The Greatest Scandal in Hogwarts History
by AgiVega
Summary: Ginny is pregnant. The father? Harry. How will they deal with the situation and with the terrible scandal that ensues? What will their relatives, friends and teachers say? And how will Voldemort react? Find out!
1. An extraordinary potions class

Disclaimer: the Harry Potter world belongs to J ****

Disclaimer: the Harry Potter world belongs to J. K. Rowling. I only borrowed her characters to play with them a bit. 

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A/N: Originally I was planning on writing only a 4-5 chapter long love story but as I proceeded with the fic I just couldn't make myself finish it. Finally I wrote a story about the whole seventh year of Harry and the gang – and not only about love, but about dark secrets, conspiracy, vengeance and – of course - VOLDEMORT. Truth be told I didn't intend to include the Dark Lord at first, but then I realised that a Harry Potter story was no real Harry Potter story without Voldemort messing around, so eventually I made HIS aims become the centre of the fic – though they'll remain hidden for a while. Basically this is still a love story, but much more than that: a great magical journey. I hope you'll like it – I terribly enjoyed writing it.

Please, don't get mad at me because of my poor choice of language – my native language is Hungarian, so I cannot write in such a distinguished style as you do.

I'd like to say thanks to two people:

  1. to my beta reader, (V)elissa, who corrected my grammatical mistakes (I gave you a lot to do, didn't I?)

  2. to my dear HP fan mother who came up with some useful pieces of advice (complaining all along that I should have written this story in Hungarian so that she'd understand it more easily.) Thanks for having been such a willing victim, mom! You're great!

Feedback (nice reviews and constructive criticism) is welcome, but flames and howlers will be directly forwarded to my country dragon, the Hungarian Horntail!

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THE GREATEST SCANDAL OF HOGWARTS HISTORY

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by AgiVega

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Chapter 1

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An extraordinary Potions class

It was a warm and sunny November day, which was strange, since November in Great Britain never used to be warm and sunny. This day must have been an exception. 

The birds were singing a delighted concert in the trees, as if wanting to thank God for having given them such a beautiful day before winter came. 

Everyone in the whole country was sure that this was a special day…even pupils of Hogwarts were sure that 6th November was no ordinary day, though they couldn't explain why. There was something in the air – a feeling that strange things were about to happen. No one had any idea what to expect, whether the imminent events were bad or good, but no one really cared. They were just happy to have an opportunity to walk around the gardens, sit down and enjoy the warm sunshine - and of course - to play Quidditch without the rain and wind constantly soaking and buffeting them. 

Harry Potter was in a much better mood than he had been during the previous one and half month. He had every reason to feel happy: all circumstances for playing his favourite game were given: nice weather, modern broomsticks and a terrific team. Two years earlier – in his fifth year at Hogwarts – he became the captain of the Gryffindor team and since then they had always managed to beat the damned Slytherins. Beating that team had always been a delight for Harry, but now that Draco had become the captain of the Slytherins, (and a prefect, too) beating them made Harry even happier. Way too happy.

* * * * *

After lunch he, Ron and Hermione had Charms class. Then Hermione went to the library – what a surprise – and the two boys had to attend a very boring Divination class with Professor Trelawney. 

Strangely this year the old professor hadn't told Harry any predictions about the terrible torments and dire death he was about to suffer – not yet, anyway. But all is not lost that is delayed…

As Ron was trying to figure out what the heck that pink butterfly eating a banana in his magic crystal could mean, Trelawney spoke up: "Next week our class will be cancelled because I will have a terrible headache. For the next lesson – in two weeks - I want you all to write an essay. Mr. Weasley, the title of yours has to be '_How I will remove my freckles in exactly three years from now_', Ms. Patil, yours is '_What tragedies will my breaking a mirror cause_?', Mr. Potter, your title is '_How will He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named kill me'_. Good work to everyone, class dismissed."

As the students left the room, Sybill called after Harry: "Potter, please, stay, I'd like to have some words with you."

"I'll wait for you outside." Ron told Harry and closed the door behind him.

"Yes, Professor?" Harry turned to Trelawney. "What would you like to talk to me about?"

"I had a vision, Potter. Last night. It was about you." the professor declared in a low voice.

"Did Voldemort kill me in that vision?" Harry looked amused, especially when he saw Sybill shudder from the name 'Voldemort'. "Why do I have to write an essay on that if you already know how it'll happen?"

Trelawney didn't react upon his sarcasm. "The Saturn is in an ominous constellation with Pluto, depicting a deadly formation before Pisces. It means nothing good." 

"How do you know that the bad constellation is about me?" Harry asked. "Oh, well, never mind. All bad signs are about me, aren't they?"

"Mars is very bright tonight." she replied in a dreamy tone.

Harry slapped his forehead. *No, not that again!* "Uh, do you mean that I'm going to turn into a centaur? Gee, too bad…"

"No centaur, Mr. Potter." Sybill shook her head. "Saturn's constellation with Pluto in front of Pisces indicates _a birth_."

"Um, who should I send a best-wishes card? Who is gonna have a baby?" he grinned, being sure that Trelawney was out of her mind again – as usual.

The professor didn't answer, though. She only smiled. A bitter smile it was.

"I can't tell you any more. I only wanted to advise you to be prepared for strange things will happen… dark things."

*Sure, dark.* he smirked. "I'll keep my eyes open, Professor. Promise." he nodded and was happy to be free from this crazy hag.

* * * * *

"Wow, what a nice title she picked for you." Ron frowned as they walked down the corridor. "I hope you don't take her seriously."

Harry shrugged. "She's just a silly old rook and I never cared about her predictions, you know that." he decided not to tell Ron anything about Sybill's vision. It wasn't rational, anyway. 

"Almost never." Ron reminded him. "Once, after your exam at the end of the third year, you were in firm belief that she actually had a REAL vision. And, if my memory serves me well, she really managed to foretell that Scabbers, uh, Wormtail, would rejoin You-Know-Who, and You-Know-Who would be resurrected." he jumped as Mrs. Norris crossed their way. "That damned cat, I almost tripped over her!" Ron shouted. "And she managed to get away again! Oh, Harry, if only I had an opportunity to kick her!"

"Who did you want to kick?" a very angry voice of Argus Filch cut in from behind them.

The boys exchanged a quick glance, then Ron yelled: "Run!"

"Come back you no-good swindlers!" the caretaker shouted after them. "I'll get you, I'll get you, I swear, and you'll regret that you ever took the Hogwarts Express! Come back, you…"

But the two boys soon got out of earshot, chortling and calling Argus names that would have made Hermione scowl at them like Percy.

Her arms packed with heavy books, Hermione came out of the library, giving Harry and Ron a questioning look as they ran down the stairs, still chuckling. "What's so funny, guys? I would also like to laugh."

"Nothing… nothing…" Ron giggled, imagining Filch getting apoplectic with rage then tripping over his own cat.

"Harry?" the girl turned away from Ron, clearly waiting for an explanation from the other boy.

"Uh, Herm, well…" Harry also burst out laughing. "Sorry, I… can't… tell…"

Hermione shook her head in disbelief. "You boys are so childish." she said with disgust. "Are you two ever going to grow up?"

"Hey, Herm, it's not us being childish, but you being too strict." Ron commented. "Relax a bit!"

"Relax? Are you crazy?" she retorted. "We are going to have our final exams this school year, and you want me to relax? You know there's nothing more important for me than my studies and as a prefect I have to set an example for the others."

"Ron is right, Hermi." Harry advised. "We still have seven months before the exams, and you're already studying for them."

"That's because I don't want to fail. If you want to repeat this year and give Malfoy another opportunity to laugh at you, then do so. But I'm going to study." she declared and left the boys in front of the library.

"This girl could do with a good kiss, I'm telling you." Ron said. "It would help her forget a bit about those silly books."

"And you'd be the brave knight who'll devote his life to the noble mission of making her relax, I presume?"

"Well…" Ron blushed. "Um, why not?"

Harry grinned at him. "Yeah, why not?"

"Harry…"

"Yes?"

"Have you ever kissed a girl? I mean, on the lips?"

Now it was Harry's turn to turn red. 

"That means a yes." Ron stated.

"And? What if it does?" Harry shrugged.

"Who was it?"

"Who was who?"

"The girl you kissed."

"Non of your business." Harry replied, clearly avoiding Ron's glance.

Ron raised an eyebrow. "Wow. The great Harry Potter has been keeping a secret from his best friend. That must be a serious one, pal."

"Listen, Ron, please, don't get mad at me, but I… cannot tell you." 

"Oh, Harry, don't tell me that it was Pansy Parkinson!" the red headed boy shouted. "Please! Not her! Not her!"

"Who the hell told you that it was Pansy?" Harry started to feel embarrassed. "Of course it wasn't her. I'd never kiss a slimy Slytherin."

"What a relief!" Ron sighed. "C'mon, we've got to go to Potions."

Harry gave out a voice that sounded like gagging. 

* * * * *

The Potion class was no better than all the others before – Snape decided to teach them a very tricky attraction-potion. Not that he'd ever use it – he didn't want anyone to like him, and didn't like anyone either. Well, maybe Draco, but he really was the only student he liked a bit. His less-favourite students were Harry and Neville. He hated Harry for being the son of his old enemy, James Potter – and he despised Neville for being so clumsy and making potions go wrong all the time. 

This lesson was really no different from the others: Snape praised Draco for being the first to be ready with his potion, gave Harry and Ron disgusted looks, told Hermione that she was an unbearable smart-aleck and grumbled at Neville when he put four toad legs into his potion instead of three, making it explode with a loud bang, soaking some pupils with sticky green slime. Draco, who stood the closest to Neville's cauldron, began to scream as a branch full of pink flowers started to grow out of his left ear. Crabbe and Goyle couldn't help laughing, but when Draco gave them a '_I'm-gonna-transform-you-two-into-blast-ended-skrewts_'-stare, they stopped chortling.

"Crabbe, take him up to Madame Pomfrey." Snape instructed. "And hurry back!"

Crabbe helped Draco get to the hospital wing, where Madame Pomfrey sawed the branch out of Malfoy's ear.

"Aren't you glad to have had an opportunity to see Mr. Malfoy like that, Potter?" Snape turned to Harry, who tried to hide his amusement by looking seriously occupied with stirring the khaki juice in his cauldron.

"I asked you something, Potter!" Snape raised his voice.

Harry looked up, bewildered. "Sorry, professor. I guess I was too occupied with working on my potion." 

"So, you wanted it to be perfect, didn't you, Potter?" Snape sneered. "Then maybe we should try it on you."

"On me?" Harry blanched.

"Yeeees, on youuuuu." the professor replied with a wicked grin. "You drink it, then close your eyes until the little stars blurring your vision disappear, then open your eyes, and you'll be extremely attracted to the first being you catch a glimpse of. It's so simple."

"That's cruel." Parvati whispered to Lavender, who nodded. "But I hope it'll be me he sees for the first time."

"No, it's me he has to see!" Lavender whispered back, and they both started to giggle.

*Girls!* Ron sighed, not hearing what they were talking about, but having a good idea of what it might have been.

"Drink the potion, Potter." Snape instructed. 

Harry felt a lump form in his throat. He won't be able to swallow that goo, he kept telling himself.

"Now!" the professor shouted, "Or I'll take fifty points from Gryffindor. Consider it, Potter."

Harry took a small glass, filled it with the khaki juice and brought it to his mouth, his right hand trembling.

"Watch out, Potter, you are spilling the whole potion on the floor!" Snape grumbled.

Harry decided that he wouldn't give Snape the pleasure of taking fifty points from his house, so he swallowed the fluid in one gulp.

In the next instant, his eyes were forced to shut, and millions of little stars started to attack him from all directions. They hit him then bounced back from him, gradually disappearing. He was too much in a trance to hear the door creak as Crabbe entered. He felt incredibly dizzy and couldn't sustain his weight, so he fell.

He didn't move for at least two minutes, waiting for the last star to disappear, then slowly opened his eyes. The first thing he saw was a pair of yellowish eyes. He blinked, trying to get a clearer picture of the world around him – or rather of those beautiful yellow eyes. 

He sat up, rubbed his eyes - one of the little stars must have stolen his glasses – and realised that the creature he saw was non other than Mrs. Norris.

"Pussy-cat!" he yelled and scooped up the animal, grabbing her so close that she almost suffocated. "Cute little one, kitty, kitty, kitty…" he cooed to the horror-stricken cat who had never been petted like this by anyone – not even by her owner, Filch.

"He's gone crazy." Lavender muttered.

"Not crazy, just crazy in love with the cat." Parvati explained. "I just don't understand how that fur-ball got into here."

"Crabbe opened the door shortly after Harry drank the potion." Hermione said matter-of-factly. She tried to remain cool and indifferent, but her pale complexion revealed how upset she was. 

"Little catty, I love you, catty." Harry kept stroking the unfortunate animal, cradling her in his arms. "Wanna drink some milk, sweet catty?"

Ron, Neville and the others didn't know what to say. The scene would have been particularly funny, had it not been about Harry. Even the Slytherins forgot to laugh.

"Enough is enough!" Hermione shouted at last, turning to the teacher who wasn't even trying to hide his victorious smile. "Professor, this time you've overstepped the mark! Make an antidote right now!"

"Are you threatening me, Ms. Granger?" Snape asked, his smile fading a bit.

"Yes, I am!" she yelled at the professor. "And if you don't, I'll go and tell Professor Dumbledore that you are making fools of your students during your class! And I'll tell him that you browbeat Harry into doing this! I'll tell him that you blackmailed poor Harry! Now, will you make a counter potion or should I go to the headmaster?"

"Very clever, Ms. Granger." Snape gritted his teeth. He hated it when his students were smarter than him.

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"Go to sleep, go to sleep, close you big yellow eyes, la-la-la-la, la-la-la…" Harry sang a lullaby to the poor kitty, who seemed to be very nervous.

"Stop that, pal, please!" Ron begged his friend, but Harry didn't pay attention to him; he was very occupied with trying to lull Mrs. Norris into sleep. He was convinced that the poor kitty was in bad shape and needed some caring. He had no idea that it was exactly HIS caring that made the unfortunate cat get into such a bad shape.

* * * * *

Half an hour later the students left Snape's room, discussing the events that had just taken place. Some of the Slytherins started to laugh and pointed their fingers at Harry, who was still quite dazed and had no idea what happened to him. Ron and Hermione supported him to the portrait of the Fat Lady.

"Oh, my, Harry, son, you look terrible!" the Fat Lady clasped her hands. "What happened to him?" she asked from the other two.

"Snape." Hermione and Ron replied in chorus.

The Fat Lady just nodded, totally aware that '_Snape_' meant nothing good – especially not for Harry Potter.

"Password?"

"Skunk skull." Ron said, and the portrait hole opened. He and Hermione somehow managed to drag Harry into the room.

"I just hope that people won't be speaking about this too much." the girl said. "It would be very unpleasant for Harry."

"Well, they surely can't have got to know it yet." Ron replied. "Anyway, I don't think that the Gryffindors from our class would want to make a fun of him. But I can't say the same for the Slytherins. I fear that tomorrow the whole school will be laughing at Harry."

"Poor Harry." Hermione sighed. "He doesn't deserve it."

"Snape has never been just with him. You know how much he hates him."

"Who… hates… who?" Harry mumbled, not being able to comprehend their words.

"No one." Hermione answered. "C'mon, Harry, let's get you into bed."

"Nooo… promised… Hagrid…" the boy muttered, but as his friends tossed him onto his bed, where he fell asleep immediately.

"What was he saying?" the girl wondered.

"He promised to visit Hagrid tonight." Ron said. "Hagrid wants to show him something… interesting."

"Interesting?" she raised an eyebrow. "It depends on your point of view what you regard as interesting. The skrewts didn't belong to things I'd call interesting."

"Same here." a voice came from their back. It was Neville, holding Harry's glasses. "I found this on the floor of the dungeon when I was cleaning it up."

"Oh, Snape made you scrub the whole dungeon, didn't he?" Ron asked.

"Yeah, he did." Longbottom replied. "Look at my hands: they're red and sore! Oh, I hate that guy so much!"

"Me too!" declared Ron and Hermione in unison, and even the dozing Harry added something like: '_You have no idea how much_.'

* * * * *

Shortly after they made sure that Harry was in a deep slumber, the three of them decided to play some exploding snap in the common room. As they got there, they immediately realised that people were discussing something in groups of threes and fours. 

"Oh, no." Hermione sighed. "They already know it. They won't leave Harry in peace, that's for sure!"

"Had I not been Harry's best friend, I also wouldn't leave him in peace." Ron smirked. 

"But Ron!" the girl shouted indignantly. "How could you…?"

"I said I'd do so if I weren't his best friend." Ron reminded her. "Anyway, you have to admit that it was pretty funny: Harry enamoured with a cat! It was nearly as funny as Draco, the bouncing ferret."

Neville nodded his agreement.

Hermione gave both boys a despising look and joined Lavender and Parvati who were eagerly talking about something with two sixth-years. 

"…and how did it happen?" Lavender asked Susan Cunningham.

*If it is Lavender who asks and not Susan, then they can't be talking about Harry's case.* Hermione told herself.

"Hi, Herm, have you heard the news?" Parvati asked her.

"What news? Did Draco turn into a blooming tree?"

"Nay." Lavender giggled, "Though it'd be fun, wouldn't it, girls?"

"Sure." Susan laughed too. "But we were talking about Ginny."

"Why? What's happened to her?" Hermione asked.

"She fainted during Transfiguration." Parvati answered. "McGonagall turned a book into a scorpion, and everyone jumped on the desks to be safe from it. Everyone, but Ginny, since she lost consciousness when she saw the scorpion."

"And? Why is this such big news?" Hermione wondered. "Scorpions are really scary. I can understand her predicament."

"Sure, because you don't know what we know… er, what Susan knows." Lavender grinned. "There's something weird about Ginny."

"Weird?"

"Yeah. She's been sick for the last two weeks." Susan said. "I wasn't supposed to tell it to anyone, but after she fainted, it became common-knowledge. Now everyone is guessing what the problem with her is."

"And you know it?" Hermione asked the girls.

"I don't know. Nor does Parvati." Lavender shrugged. "Susan just wouldn't tell us." her voice sounded disappointed. "She is such an evil witch! She's aware that we're all dying to know, but she's keeping it from us!"

"I just hope that it isn't something serious, or Rita Skeeter will surely know about it, and tomorrow everyone will be reading the total opposite of the truth in the _Daily Prophet_."

"She'd better write about Ginny's mysterious illness rather than about Harry's case, though." Lavender commented.

"True." Parvati nodded.

"Harry's case?" Susan looked confused. "What happened to Harry?"

"_Nothing_." Hermione, Lavender and Parvati replied in unison.

"Nothing?" Susan frowned.

"Nothing you won't know about by this time tomorrow." Lavender said. "Poor Harry."

"Yeah. Especially if Rita writes an editorial about it… in her usual endearing style." Hermione sighed.

"Exactly. By the way, Herm, why did you let her go after you caught her and put her into that bottle? The wizard world would be better off without her."

"That's true." Hermione admitted. "But I don't have the right to encroach on anyone's freedom… not for a long time, anyway."

"That's a pity." Parvati pouted. "Rita would have looked cool in a bug collection… between a butterfly and a dragon-fly."

"But she still wouldn't look as good as Draco as a ferret." Ron cut in.

Hermione rolled her eyes. "That's his mania: Draco as a bouncing ferret."

"But Draco as a blooming tree must also be terrific, don't you think?" Parvati added.

"Only if some wood-worms would move into him." Ron replied, and all of them started to laugh.

* * * * *

Soon everyone went down to have dinner. The Rawenclaws and Hufflepuffs didn't seem to have heard about either Harry's or Ginny's case. Some Slytherins were whispering and chuckling, though; but when they met Draco's stern look, their smiles faded from their faces. Draco wasn't sure whether they were laughing at him or at Harry.

* * * * *

McGonagall wasn't present at dinner. She went to Madame Pomfrey to find out what Ginny's problem was.

As she entered the infirmary, she caught a glimpse of a very upset Madame Pomfrey, who was nervously pacing the room, her lips moving. She was clearly talking to herself.

"Poppy, are you all right?" McGonagall asked. "You look nervous. What happened?"

"Come, Minerva, let's go into my room. She mustn't hear us." she pointed at the still sleeping Ginny and led McGonagall into the adjoining chamber and closed the door.

"For all wizards and witches, Poppy, I've never seen you like this!" Minerva stated. "What's gotten into you?"

"Not into me. Into Ginny Weasley." the other woman said.

"What is with her? Have you examined her?" Pomfrey nodded. "And???"

"I've made a little research after I examined her." Pomfrey's voice was trembling. "I looked into several books, _Hogwarts, a History_ included, but I couldn't find another case like this in the thousand year history of the school. Terrible… so terrible… what a scandal… how are we going to deal with this?"

"Poppy." McGonagall cut in. "I still don't have the slightest idea what you are talking about. Is Ginny's illness contagious? Is she to be separated from the other students? Does she need extra herbs that can only be found in South-America?"

Pomfrey shook her head.

"Then? What is it? Fire away!"

"Ginny Weasley… well… she's… she's…"

"Yes?"

"She is… going to have a baby." 

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A/N 2: I hope I managed to wake your interest – this is only the beginning - it will get much more exciting later on, I promise! Chapter two will be up soon, revealing the paternity of Ginny's child, almost giving poor McGonagall a heart attack.

Please, review!


	2. Guess who?

A/N: First of all, I'd like to thank you all for your kind reviews ****

A/N: First of all, I'd like to thank you all for your kind reviews. I'm very happy that you liked chapter one. I hope you'll like this one just as much, though it'll have some grammatical mistakes, because my beta reader is 'lost'. I'm sure you'll still be able to understand the plot. ;-)

Have fun!

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Chapter 2

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Guess who?

"What? What did you say?" McGonagall gaped.

"She is pregnant, Minerva."

"But… she's only sixteen!"

"I know, I know. She is still a child… and going to have a child herself. Tut, tut, tut, no good. What are we going to do now?"

"Good question." McGonagall frowned. "You were right, this is the first case of a student getting pregnant in the whole history of Hogwarts. What a shame!" her eyes were gleaming with fury, sending fire-bolts at poor Poppy.

"Hey, don't look at me like that, Minerva, it's not my fault!"

"Oh, sorry…" McGonagall shook her head. "It was too sudden, too shocking… by the way, speaking of fault, who's the father?"

Madame Pomfrey shrugged. "How could I know that? Maybe we should ask Ginny herself… but of course we'll have to tell her the news first…"

"What?" Minerva raised an eyebrow. "She doesn't know it…? Doesn't even suspect…?"

"No. I guess she doesn't." the nurse replied. "So, should we ask her about the father?"

"No." McGonagall said sternly. "If she doesn't know it yet, then she mustn't know it until we can talk to Dumbledore. And he has just left for Transylvania, to enter into a contract with the V.C.R."

"The V.C.R.?" Pomfrey gave her a bewildered stare.

"The Vampire's Community of Romania. 

"Oh. I see." Pomfrey nodded. "So you think that we shouldn't tell anyone that Ginny is with a child."

"Exactly."

"But then… how are we going to get to know who the father is?"

"Easily. We'll keep our eyes open."

"What do you mean?"

"We'll tell everyone that Ginny has an ailment called… _clupea _and that she mustn't leave the medic bay for another two days.."

"Clupe-what?"

"Never mind." McGonagall sighed. "It means herring in Latin. That was the first thing I could think of."

"Okay. So let it be clupea." Pomfrey agreed. "And…?"

"And we'll, I mean you'll keep an eye on Ginny's visitors. There will be someone among them who'll behave in a strange way."

"All student of Hogwarts behave in a strange way." Poppy reminded Minerva.

"Well, true, but I meant, that… hey, you'll know it! …Or not." she shrugged. "Anyway, sooner of later we'll find it out. If not sooner then only after Dumbledore comes back. He'll be back in three days."

"Okay, but how should I 'keep and eye' on her, without her noticing it?"

"Use the _Videus-Camericus Charm_."

"The what?"

McGonagall rolled her eyes in disbelief. This was a charm that every graduated witch and wizard had to know!

"Okay, I'll explain it…" she started.

* * * * *

"How are you, sis?" Ron asked, sitting on Ginny's bed. "You don't even look sick. Is that clupe-what dangerous?"

"Oh, no, it isn't." Ginny smiled. "Madame Pomfrey told me that I'd be okay in two days. Don't worry about me, brother."

"Hi, Ginny!" Hermione entered the infirmary. "Feeling better?"

"Yes, a lot better." the red-headed girl answered. "I was bored, though."

"Bored? I can understand that!" Ron said. "I've got a cool story for you, little sister… no, not only one: two! Which one would you like to hear first? The one about Draco or the one about Harry?"

When Ron uttered Harry's name, Ginny blushed a bit, but fortunately no one noticed.

"Start with Draco." she said.

"Okay." Ron grinned. "Now, imagine the dungeon, Snape teaching us something pretty boring, and Neville bungling as usual…"

Ginny enjoyed Ron's story very much. At the end Ron didn't forget to mention that Draco looked almost as cool with the blossoming branch in his left ear as he was as a bouncing ferret. Ginny giggled imagining Malfoy screaming in terror when he realised what happened to him.

"…and the result was the Snape got a new opportunity to bully Harry. He told him that he was sure that Harry found Draco's case very amusing, and that Harry should drink the potion he cooked. Poor Harry, he drank it and… fell in love with Mrs. Norris!"

"WHAT?????" Ginny gasped, all the blood running out of her face. "He… he loves… a CAT?????"

"Oh, not really…" Ron snickered. "You know, Snape made him an antidote… so he isn't smitten with the kitten anymore… it was funny, though."

"Ron!" Hermione gave him a very disapproving look. "I don't think that Ginny enjoys stories in which Harry discredits himself." she gave her friend an impish smile. "She likes Harry more than that, doesn't she?"

Ginny's face turned the same colour as her hair. "Are you sure that he doesn't love Mrs. Norris anymore?" she worried. Ron and Hermione burst out laughing.

"You can be sure of that." Hermione smiled. Ginny smiled back.

"Oh, my, I've just realised how late it is!" Hermi shouted, looking at the grandfather's clock in the corner. "It's nearly eight o'clock, and I still have some work to do in the library. I must go, Ginny. Take care."

"Bye, Hermi." the other girl responded.

"Bye, Hermi." Ron added, imitating Ginny's voice. "See you in the library tomorrow morning."

Hermione turned back from the door. "Why in the library?" 

"'Cause you'll fall asleep among your precious books, that's why."

"I won't." Hermione scowled. "And stop mocking me with my book-mania, will you?"

"I will… when you stop strolling on the corridors with all the four volumes of Beautiful Bill's Biography."

Now it was Hermione's turn to blush. "It's non of your business, what I read in my free time! And he's not a second Lockhart!"

"I didn't say he was." Ron pointed out.

"But you implied!"

"Did not."

"Did too!"

"Did not!"

"Did too!"

"Stop, stop making such a clamour, kids!" Madame Pomfrey chastised them as she entered the room. "This is a medic bay, you know, and Ms. Weasley needs some rest."

"We weren't…" Hermione began.

"I don't care." Pomfrey declared. "Out with you two!"

"Night, sis." Ron told Ginny and left the infirmary with Hermione.

As the door slammed shut behind them, the girl lunged at Ron: "How dare you insult me like that… especially before the eyes of your sick sister!"

"Oh, you aren't mad that I insulted YOU, but because I insulted Beautiful Bill!"

"Oh, shut up you fool!" Hermione snapped and turned her back on him.

"Okay, I'll shut up and won't talk to you anymore!" he retorted.

"Okay."

"Okay."

"Okaaay." she started to get bored with their little play.

"Don't you think we are behaving foolishly?" Ron asked.

"Yea, we are." Hermione admitted, facing the boy. Ron also turned around to face her. The moonlight came across the window, painting silver streaks on the corridor's walls and floor… and making Hermione's hair glitter like a glorious halo around her head.

"Oh my, you are so beautiful!" Ron sighed.

"Am I?" her lips tucked into a smirk.

"Yeah." he stepped closer, taking her hands. "I don't wanna quarrel with you anymore, Herm."

"Neither do I."

"Then let's kiss and be friends."

"Kiss?" she raised an eyebrow.

"Uh-huh." he answered. "May I kiss you?"

"What a silly question…" she smiled and pulled Ron's head down, catching his lips with hers.

That was how Peeves found them.

"Bad kiddies! Naughty kiddies! I'll go and tell Prof. McGonagall what you were doing here!" he howled at them.

"Don't dare to do that, Peeves, or I'll…" Ron began.

"Or you'll do what?" the poltergeist gave him a wicked grin. "_Kill me_?" he started to guffaw. "You are so funny, Ronniekins! Hey, Granger, you chose well: he is the best clown in the whole school! Not to mention how well he smooches!"

"Shut up, Peeves, or I'll tell McGonagall that you dropped this vase." Hermione said.

"What vase?" Peeves frowned.

"This one." she answered, lifting a very fragile vase from a nearby shelf. It was the favourite decoration of Professor McGonagall. She had brought it from a journey toChina where she had a short romance with a magical mandarin. Of course she had never told anyone about her little fling, but she cherished the mandarin's present very much and wanted everyone to admire it whenever they passed by it on the corridor.

"Yeah, she'll tell McGonagall…" Ron added, "or rather the Bloody Baron. What do you think, Peeves, is it worth bugging us?" 

The poltergeist gave them an '_okay-I'll-try-again-next-time'_-stare and left through the closed window.

Hermione put the vase back on the shelf and turned to Ron. "So, where were we?"

"Here, I think…" the boy replied, pulling her into a tight embrace and continuing their kiss where they'd left off.

* * * * *

When they finally got back to the Gryffindor common room, Ron decided to check on Harry. Hermione left for the girls' dormitories after giving Ron a small kiss on the cheek.

When the boy entered their dorm, he perceived at once that his best friend was nowhere to be found there.

"Where's Harry?" he asked Dean and Seamus who were playing '_who-can-hold-his-breath-for-a-longer-time'._

"He left about ten minutes ago." Seamus replied.

"Why? Where did he go?" Ron wondered.

"No idea." Dean shrugged. "But he got a bit jittery when we told him about your sister's faint. I don't know why… is that clupea thing so dangerous?"

"Nope, it isn't." Ron chuckled. "Do you think he went to visit Ginny?"

"I don't think so." Seamus shook his head. "It's already half past eight, and visiting time ends at eight o'clock."

They all looked up as Neville entered the room.

"Have you seen Harry, Neville?" Ron turned to him.

"Yup, he dashed down the corridor." the boy answered. "He didn't even notice me and almost bumped into me."

"Most interesting." Seamus commented.

"Yeah… hey, Trevor! Come back!" Neville shouted as his toad jumped out of his hand. He started to chase the frog among the four-poster beds, but Trevor was much quicker than he. "Okay, you wanted it!" he warned the animal. "_Accio Trevor_!" he cried, holding up his wand.

The toad immediately flew into his inviting arms.

"Well done, Neville!" Dean and Seamus expressed their admiration. 

"I've never seen a flying toad. Looks cool." Ron added.

They all started to laugh, scaring the befuddled frog even more.

* * * * *

Madame Pomfrey was almost asleep when the _Videus-Camericus Charm_ waked her. "Huh?" she rubbed her eyes and propped her head on her hands, staring into a small magical screen floating in the air before her desk. *I've almost fallen asleep!* she chastised herself. 

It really had been a long watch for her: from 16:00 to 20:00 at least fifty visitors came to Ginny and she observed all of them with the greatest attention. She wanted to spot someone who behaved strangely. Then she gave up on that, since everyone behaved that way: Parvati and Lavender brought Ginny a small mirror and a comb to re-arrange her hair that easily got tousled by the pillows. Susan, Ginny's best friend came with a pile of books, she surely explained her what pages to read through, not to miss anything. She even started to whisper and giggle about something, along with her friend, but all Pomfrey was able to make out was the sentence: 'What a relief!'. Shortly later Draco and his two sidekicks visited the girl. Malfoy told her quite sarcastically that she had to be grateful that the school provided free medical care, because her family surely wouldn't be able to pay for it. Then came a pack of her other friends, all telling gossips about 'those damned teachers who never leave them in peace'. Madame Pomfrey partially agreed with them, especially when Snape was concerned.

Shortly before eight, came Ron and Hermione, and they were the last visitors. 

Though Madame Pomfrey was quite sure that no one would dare come after eight, she decided to keep watching the medic bay through her charm from her adjoining room. Of course Ginny had no idea of being watched.

It was past 20:30 when the noise of an opening door woke Poppy. She immediately directed her attention to the small screen hovering in front of her. She was too sleepy and dazed to realise at once who entered the room. She rubbed her eyes once more as the figure approached Ginny's bed. It bent over the bed, seeing that the girl was fast asleep. Whoever the figure belonged to, it decided to let her doze. It turned and put something on Ginny's bedside table and intended to leave.

Pomfrey blinked, trying to make out the visitor's face.

It was Harry Potter. 

Though she couldn't see him properly, his glasses were unmistakable.

*What does he want here?* Poppy wondered. *No, boy, don't leave yet!* she screamed in herself, suddenly feeling that it was Potter's behaviour she could describe as the most suspicious one from all the visitors'.

To her relief, Ginny opened her eyes and called after the boy. "Harry?"

He turned around and walked back to the bed. "Hi. How are you doing?"

"Fine, thanks." she smiled and beckoned him to sit down on the edge of her bed. Harry sat down.

"I heard you had an illness with the name… sorry, I forgot it."

"Never mind. I can't keep it in mind, either." she replied. "Um, thanks for the rose."

"You like it?" he glanced at the yellow rose he had put on her bedside table.

"It's beautiful." she nodded.

"I was contemplating whether to bring a red one, but eventually I decided to choose a yellow one." he explained. "Red would have been a bit… um… suspicious, wouldn't it?"

"Sure." she giggled, taking his hands into hers. "I thought you wouldn't visit me."

"Why?" he tried to frown, but didn't succeed. 

"Because you haven't cared for me since… well, you know…"

"I know, and I'm sorry, Gin." he sighed. "But it was you who avoided me, not vice versa."

"Maybe. I was so silly, Harry." she smiled sadly. 

"No, you weren't. You were just scared, like me." he replied. "But you see, there was nothing to worry about."

"Yea, there was nothing. I implemented that very difficult _Anti-Conceptus-Charm_ on myself. It worked."

"Thanks to heaven, it did." he squeezed her hands, lifting her right one to his lips. When he kissed her hand, she blushed to the roots of her fiery hair, but quickly managed to recover her voice.

"Do you intend to kiss only my hand, Harry?"

The boy's lips tucked into an impish smirk. "'Course not." he bent closer to Ginny, his mouth gently descending on hers.

In the adjoining room Madame Pomfrey was close to fainting.

As Harry pulled back, the girl grabbed his neck and caught his lips in a searing kiss, clearly indicating that only one didn't satisfy her.

In the neighbouring room Madame Pomfrey was about to freak out.

Ginny didn't let Harry break their kiss, and pulled him down with herself, so they both reached a horizontal state, their kissing and petting getting wilder by the second.

In front of her secret-peeping-screen, Madame Pomfrey felt like jumping up and howling at the top of her lungs that '_Holy chocolate frogs, it's Harry Potter, it's Harry Potter!'_

To her greatest relief the kids' fierce love-scene ended about two minutes later, and Harry left for his dormitory. 

Poppy waited until Ginny fell asleep and dashed out of the infirmary, running upstairs to McGonagall's room.

She knocked on the door. No one answered.

She knocked again, this time shouting: "Minerva, Minerva, it's me, Poppy, let me in!"

The door opened and a very sleepy-looking professor McGonagall peered out.

"What… what happened?" she yawned, letting the other woman in.

"We've got him!" Pomfrey answered hastily.

"The culprit?" McGonagall asked, stifling another yawn, pulling on a tartan robe to cover her night-gown.

Poppy nodded.

"Aaaaand?" Minerva raised an eyebrow. 

"Well, you'd never believe it."

"You are enjoying the tension you are making, aren't you?"

"No, of course not." Pomfrey shook her head.

"Then out with it!" McGonagall raised her voice. "WHO IS IT????"

Pomfrey really started to enjoy the other woman's confusion. "What about playing a little guess-who?"

"Whaaat?" McGonagall shouted, not caring that she might wake the whole castle. 

"Ask questions, and I'll answer them with a yes or no." Poppy said. "Go ahead!"

*Argggh, this can't be happening to me!* Minerva cursed. *It's bedtime, I'm tired and Poppy wants me to play guess-who! The world is just not fair!*

She suddenly looked up. "Okay. Is he a sixth-year?"

"No." Pomfrey shook her head.

"A seventh-year?"

"Yes."

"A Slytherin?" McGonagall hoped that the culprit wasn't from her house.

"No."

"Hufflepuff?"

"No."

"Rawenclaw?" she still hoped that Pomfrey'd say yes.

"Noooo."

*Damn!* "So, a Gryffindor, then."

"Yes."

McGonagall started to count the possible boys. She managed to count seventeen seventh-year male Gryffindors. 

"Okay, does he have brown hair?"

"No."

*Then twelve of them is out of the question.* "Blond, maybe?"

"Nay."

*Two others out.* "There are only two black-haired and one red-haired guys… but the red-head is Ron, thus he cannot be." McGonagall started to think the whole thing over again. One of the black-haired boys was Jim Benton, the other… *_No! Not him! Just not him_!* she prayed. *Though it'd be typical for him: he knows how to get into trouble… but…*

"Your facial expression reveals that you've solved the riddle." Pomfrey grinned.

McGonagall flinched. "Tell me that it isn't Potter! Tell me, Poppy! Please!"

Madame Pomfrey reached out and placed her hand on Minerva's shoulder to calm her. "I know that it's hard for you, because he's a Gryffindor, Ginny's one too, and there'll be soon a terrible scandal which will include the humiliation of your house as well, but listen, Minerva, look at the bright side of it!"

"The bright side? WHAT bright side?" McGonagall lifted her head, looking directly into the other woman's eyes. 

"Those children love each other. I've seen it. They were hugging and kissing so fiercely that I almost believed that I was seeing a love-scene from a Muggle movie."

McGonagall scowled. "Love each other? Rubbish, Poppy! It's just passion they are feeling. They are only two hormone-driven teenagers, who'll find out pretty quickly that all's not love that makes them get aroused."

Madame Pomfrey shrugged. "I think they should know it better than us."

"Okay. Send Potter to me. Right now."

__

****

A/N2: okay, I hope there weren't too many grammatical mistakes. Chapter three will be up soon, taking you one and a half month back in time…

Please, review!


	3. Memories of bubblebath

Chapter 3 ****

A/N: all right, people, here's chapter three, the most romantic chapter of the whole story. Sorry to disappoint you, but the love scene won't be 'detailed', since the story is rated PG13, and not NC17. (IMHO writing an NC17-rated story in HP category is a real sacrilege. But that's only my opinion.)

I have to say thanks to my wonderful mom again, who persuaded me to make this chapter be a bit more romantic than it originally was – she was right, this is really that particular chapter that really NEEDS to be romantic – you'll see why.

Okay, enjoy, and forgive me for my grammatical mistakes.

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Chapter 3

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Memories of bubble bath

As Harry walked back to his dorm from the medic bay, he was thinking of the events of the last six weeks. He couldn't express with words how relieved he felt. Ginny was only sick, and not… Suddenly he remembered Trelawney's vision about a birth. *Utter rubbish!* 

He still remembered every second of that very evening he got an owl-post from the youngest Weasley…

__

Dear Harry,

Could we talk privately, please? I've got to tell you something important. Just name the time and place and I'll be there. Thanks in advance.

Ginny

Harry hadn't the slightest idea what the girl wanted from him, but he felt a strange warmth engulf his body… 

Funny, he thought, he hadn't even realised how pretty that girl had become… but at that very moment his hands holding the letter began to shake, and his heart began to pound loudly - quicker than ever before. He still remembered his feelings towards Cho, but those emotions seemed suddenly very distant – as though they had come from an earlier life…

Since Ginny wished to meet him in private, he sent Hedwig with the answer that they should meet at 22:00 in the prefect's bathroom. That was the safest place he could think of, and he even knew the current password, because he had overheard Hermione telling it to another prefect shortly after it had been changed. 

Harry had to smile at the thought of himself sneaking into the bath three years earlier, when he had to solve the riddle of the golden egg. Back then the password was '_Pine fresh'_. Now it was '_eau de Cologne'_. How very appropriate for the prefect's bath!

By the time he arrived at the door of the bath at ten o'clock, Ginny had already been waiting for him inside, since he had written her the password in his reply letter.

He entered the bath, closed the door behind himself and walked up to a very shy-looking Ginny. She was wearing her Barbie-pink night dress and her black cloak over it.

"I'm here." Harry said.

"I see." she replied with a timid smile.

"Um, why did you want to talk to me between the two of us?"

"I… I wanted… needed to tell you, Harry…" she began, her voice trembling, her whole body shaking.

"Yes? What did you need to tell me?" he cupped her chin and lifted her face to be able to look directly into her eyes.

Strange, he perceived, up till now he'd never realised what beautiful chocolate brown eyes she had. He was used to seeing her with her eyes downcast when he was nearby… then the recognition struck him: she only cast down her eyes and behaved timidly when HE was nearby. Ron told him that Ginny had always been a very chipper girl, but it never occurred to him to ask Ron why his sister was so shy when he, Harry, was concerned.

Now he managed to understand, why. _This girl loved him_… earlier he used to think that Ginny only admired him, like Colin or Dobby… but now, for the first time, he understood that it was not simply admiration – it was LOVE...

…and suddenly he realised what that funny feeling that came over him while reading her letter meant… 

…he realised that he actually loved her – and not as a friend, or as the little sister of his best friend…

NO. He loved her as a man would love a woman.

"I…" she began again, eager to answer his question, but clearly too afraid to complete the sentence.

"You love me, don't you?" he blurted out, then a second later he regretted doing so. *For Voldemort's sake, how could I ask something like that? What will she think of me now? She'd think that I'm as stuck-up as Malfoy!*

But Ginny wasn't hurt by his question. Not at all. She was relieved. Relieved, that she didn't have to say it, because he had done it for her.

"Sorry, Ginny, I… I was stupid." Harry let go of her. "Now you have all reasons to think that I'm nothing better than Draco, but…" he couldn't finish his apology, since Ginny stepped forward and did the bravest thing in her life: she clamped her hand over his mouth to stop the tirade that was about to come.

"You don't need to apologise, Harry." she said, her right had still on his lips. "You were right. I… I love you…loved you… from the first moment I saw you at King's Cross, on platform nine and three-quarters."

"Really?" Harry thought he might be dreaming. No one in his whole life had told him that they loved him. His parents died when he was one year old, and his foster parents, the Dursleys never told him that they loved him – no, actually they hated him with all their hearts. Later he had friends, but they only _liked_ him, not _loved_ him.

Ginny was the first to tell him this magical word.

"Uh-huh." she nodded, her blush perceivable even in the dimly-lit bathroom. "You are not mad because I love you, are you, Harry?"

"How… how can you think of such a thing?" he knitted his eyebrows. "Mad? No, Ginny, on the contrary. I'm glad that you love me."

A huge smile spread on the girl's face, her eyes radiating infinite happiness, as if they were two bright suns illuminating the whole room.

"Yes." he replied, his countenance mirroring hers.

"Great!" she yelled, falling on his neck, embracing him so tightly that he thought he'd suffocate.

After a minute or two he gently pushed her away. "You are throttling me, sweetheart."

"_Sweetheart_?" her face lit up again, like the sun at the zenith. "You really called me by that name?"

"Why? Don't you like it?"

"But of course I do! No one has ever called me that before!" she flung her arms around his neck again, her chocolate-coloured eyes boring deeply into his emerald ones. "Would you like to kiss me?"

Her proposal was rewarded by a mischievous grin. "Of course I would." he bent down to her and softly placed his lips on hers. At first their kiss was a totally innocent, childish one, but as they got more and more accustomed to feeling the other's mouth on their own, the kiss started to become more and more feverish. Suddenly Harry drew back. "Gosh, Ginny, I can't stand that heat anymore!"

"Then cool yourself down a bit." she advised, pointing her finger at the swimming pool.

Harry turned red. "I don't have my swimming trunks with me."

"I'll turn my back on you until you get undressed, okay?" she giggled.

*Why not? I could do with a nice swim.* he thought, and turned on some taps that had different coloured jewels in them, indicating what type of bubble bath they could produce.

When the pool was filled with foam, Harry slipped out of his robes and pyjamas and slid into the water. It wasn't as warm as a usual bath should be, but for him it was perfect, since he wanted to 'cool himself down'.

He swam to the other end the pool and was happy to notice that he was quickly cooling down. When he turned to swim back, he saw an orange point among the bubbles about ten metres from himself. It was Ginny's hair. 

"Wow, this is really wonderful, Harry!" she squealed, waving him to swim back to her.

Harry lifted his head and peered out of the pool. His suspicion was proven right: Ginny's clothes were lying discarded on the floor.

He gulped. They were in the same swimming pool, both naked. He was grateful to the fragrant foam for covering their bodies.

"Hey, Harry, have you seen this?" she beckoned him closer, showing a rubber duck in her outstretched hand. "Which one of the prefects do you think could be playing with this?"

"No idea." he grinned. "But I bet it belongs to Malfoy."

Ginny started to laugh, her voice echoing in the room. "Oh, Harry, you are so funny! Hey, you shouldn't be still wearing these." she reached out and took his glasses. "They can get wet, you know." she took his glasses, reached out of the pool and placed them on the tile floor. "Much better." she flung her arms around him, pulling him closer. Too close, in Harry's opinion.

*Don't do this to me, please!* his mind screamed as he felt himself getting hard. He swallowed the lump in his throat. *If she makes another step, I won't be able to control myself!* a shiver ran down his spine from the idea of her making another step. He started to quiver, though he felt extremely hot again. As the girl's arms embraced him, her soft, silky skin touching his, he realised that he was lost. There was no way to back out now.

* * * * *

"Oh, Ginny, this was… the most wonderful thing I've ever experienced!" Harry sighed after the very first lovemaking of their lives, stretching out on the soft towel they'd put on the floor. 

"It was wonderful for me, too. I've never thought that love could be this beautiful." she answered, sweeping a stray jet-black lock from his face. Her dreamy stare travelled up and down his body, finally stopping on his lightning-shaped scar. "I love you so much."

Harry bent down and kissed her forehead. "I love you too." his smiled faded a bit. "I didn't want to hurt you, you know that, don't you?"

"Stop worrying about that, Harry." she answered. "It was supposed to hurt a bit, but it's okay now. Anyway, it was only because you are too big."

"_Big_?" Harry raised an eyebrow. "I thought it was _normal_… how d'ya know…?"

Harry didn't finish his sentence, because Ginny began to giggle fervently. 

"I have SIX brothers, you know." she smirked. "You cannot help catching glimpses every now and then…"

"Oh." he grinned. "I thought your mother was careful to see to that you wouldn't 'catch glimpses'…" Harry suddenly slapped his forehead, turning as white as a sheet. "_Careful??? Holy Horntails, Ginny, we weren't…! We didn't use protection!"_

"Huh?" she sat up, blood running out of her face. 

Harry was right. They let their hormones take over and guide them into doing the wildest things one could think of, and they totally forgot to use protection.

She jumped up, hastily pulled on her night dress and grabbed a towel to dry her hair.

"Ginny…" he had no idea what to say.

"Too late, Harry. We should have thought a bit earlier." she scowled at him. 

Her stare was freezing, and he felt that he was turning into an icicle. He also grabbed a towel and started to dry himself. "Listen, Ginny, maybe… there might be a charm that prohibits conception even after it happened, and… it's by far not sure that is happened at all."

She nodded. "I'll go to the library and look for something like that. Good night."

As the door behind Ginny slammed shut, Harry sat down on the floor with a deep sigh. He couldn't believe he had done it. He covered his face with his hands, trying to close out the whole world. He didn't succeed.

"Finally alone, are you?" a voice broke the silence.

Harry looked up to see Moaning Myrtle sitting on one of the taps. The usually depressed girl was smirking wickedly now.

"M…Myrtle?" he stammered, grabbing the towel to cover himself. "What are you doing here?"

"Just the usual. _Watching people bath_."

Harry blanched. "How long have you been here?"

The ghost gave him an impish grin. "Long, looong, looooong."

"_How long_?" he swallowed hard.

"Long enough to see… _everything_." she shrugged.

He hopped up and dashed to her, dropping to his knees before her. "Myrtle, you won't tell it anyone, will you?"

She saw his lips trembling and started to chortle. "No, Harry boy, I'll keep your little secret in exchange for what you've given me."

"Me? What have I given you?" he gaped. He had been sure that Myrtle would be happy to spread gossips about him. 

"What?" she couldn't stop laughing. "Are you asking what you've given me? Boy! You've given me the most pleasurable hour of my life! Er, I mean, my life after death… or whatever. Never mind, I've never enjoyed myself this much. _Not even when I lived_." she winked at him. "You do have a stamina, Harry. I almost wished I could be in Ginny's place."

Harry's whole face turned as red as his scar. He stood up and put on his glasses, pyjamas and robes.

"I've got to go, Myrtle."

"Okay," she giggled, "but whenever you and Ginny feel like getting horizontal, just feel free to come here!"

* * * * *

After that night Harry and Ginny barely talked to each other. When they met on the corridor, they diverted their eyes. Neither Ron nor Hermione noticed how strangely these two were behaving.

Actually Harry didn't have time to lament on the events, since Quidditch-season started at the beginning of October. 

Harry had no idea how much time Ginny spent in the library after their little fling. She searched and searched, day in, day out, but for days she found nothing. Four days after the night they spent in the prefect's bathroom, she finally found the right charm. It was quite a difficult one, but she decided to try it, no matter what. She didn't have anything to lose, so she tried it. The knowledge of having done something calmed her a bit, though she couldn't be sure that she actually succeeded or not.

… OR NOT…

Now, six weeks later Harry was sure that their fears were unfounded. He heaved a sigh of relief as he entered the dormitory. 

All the four other boys were fast asleep. He climbed into his bed and dropped off a second later.

He hadn't been asleep for ten minutes when the door opened with a loud bang and a very upset Miss Granger burst into the room.

"They lied to us, guys!" 

"What happened, hon?" Ron pulled back to curtain of his four-poster, blinking. "Don't you have a better thing to do than wake us in the middle of the night?"

"It's only 22:00, Ron, it's not that late!" she stated.

"But we had a hard day, Herm. We are tired, you know, and tomorrow we'll have to write that damned test in history of magic." Ron protested. "I know that you'd know all the answers, even if you were woken from your deepest slumber, but it's you and not me. I need sleeping if I want to reach at least 70 %."

"I agree." Seamus yawned. "I had a hard time memorising the names of Uldric the Ugly and Paddy the Puny, Hermione. I want to sleep!"

"You'll sleep after you've listened to me." she declared and pulled open the curtains of Neville and Dean's bed.

Harry didn't stir, but Dean and Neville woke up.

"Okay, Herm, fire away then leave us alone!" Ron sighed. "Who lied to whom?"

"Pomfrey lied to us. To everyone." she dropped herself down on Ron's bed. "There's no illness called clupea. I wanted to look it up in the _Common Magical Ailments and Afflictions_, but it wasn't there. Then I looked it up in a Latin dictionary, and do you know what it means?"

"No, and I'm not interested either." Ron yawned.

"It means _herring_!" she shouted. "Herring!"

"And? Maybe Ron's sister got her illness from a fish she had once eaten." Dean commented.

Neville nodded eagerly. "Pomfrey wouldn't lie to us. Never. She is such a nice woman!"

"Exactly." Seamus agreed. "And now get out, Granger!"

Hermione stood up, deeply hurt. "Next time I'll find another riddle, don't expect me to share it with you!"

"We won't!" Dean and Seamus replied in unison.

"Okay!" the girl turned her back on them and left the room, banging the door behind herself.

"At last!" Ron sighed and fell back into his pillows. "She can be so irritating sometimes."

"Is that why you called her hon?" Seamus smirked.

"Um, did I?" Ron blushed. "Must have been a slip of the tongue."

"Sure." Seamus and Dean exchanged wicked glimpses. Granger's late visit had at least one advantage: she gave them a wonderful opportunity to tease Ron.

"Okay, shall we sleep, boys?" Seamus suggested. "I'll have to get up early and write a cheat sheet about the names of the goblins who took part in the revolution of 1612."

"Good idea." Dean said. "I'll do the same. Binns won't notice it. He didn't even notice when he died, so he won't notice if we are using cheat sheets, will he?"

"No, he won't." Ron agreed. "You know, Harry did the right thing, guys. He didn't even wake up. He had a busy day, didn't he? I'm also drowsy. 'night, boys."

"'night."

They were just about to drop off when the door of their dorm opened again and Madame Pomfrey dashed in.

All four boys, who were still awake, sat up in their beds. Harry didn't stir.

"Sorry to bother you so late, boys, but I see you aren't asleep yet." she said. The boys were surprised to see a worried and maybe furious expression on her face.

"Wake up Potter." she continued. "Professor McGonagall wishes to see him."

****

A/N2: there, you've got it. I need to tell that I'm really no expert on writing romantic scenes, so this one was a real struggle for me. Reassure me that it was worth the struggle – REVIEW!!!

Next chapter will be up soon: Harry having a little 'chat' with McGonagall… (well, more than just a little 'chat') ;-)


	4. Guilt

Chapter 4 ****

A/N: all right, here's the next instalment. Though I haven't really got reviews on chapter 2 and 3, I'm undaunted, and will continue posting. Really, guys, I'm kinda surprised that you liked chapter 1 so much (I got 15 reviews!), and then you simply stopped reviewing. What have I done??? I really would like to know. I don't think that chapter 2 and 3 were worse than chapter 1, were they?

Oh well, I stop whining, that's quite out-of-character for me.

Read, enjoy and review!

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Chapter 4

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Guilt

As Harry followed Madame Pomfrey down the corridor, he kept wondering what could be so important for McGonagall that couldn't wait until next morning. Strange, he thought, that Pomfrey didn't utter a single word while leading him downstairs. Harry knew her to be a cheerful, talkative person, thus he had no idea why she was so glum now. 

*Oh,* he thought, *she must be angry with me because of Malfoy. But hey, it wasn't my fault! It was Neville's! Oh sure, Malfoy must have told her in the infirmary that it was my fault. That liar! He really would have deserved to be transformed into a tree. But… no, he'd be worse than the Whomping Willow! _Draco, the Mad Mahogany_… or the _Batty Beech-tree?_* he couldn't think of other names, because they arrived at the door of McGonagall's room.

"Go, Harry." Pomfrey opened the door and left for the medic bay to have some sleep – though she wasn't sure she'd be able to sleep at all.

Harry was left alone before the half-open door. He swallowed the lump that had formed in his throat. *I have a bad feeling about this.* he thought, though he had no idea what it was he had such a bad feeling about. But there was a certain premonition that couldn't be denied.

"Come in, Potter!" he heard his Transfiguration teacher's voice from inside. He took a deep breath and entered the room.

The first thing that struck him was the recognition that he couldn't see further than his nose. *Why does she live in such darkness?* Harry wondered as he walked toward the table – or rather in the direction where he thought the table had to be. 

"Sit down!" a harsh voice instructed him. 

He reached out with his hands to feel after the chair. *Damn, why haven't I brought my wand? And why doesn't she simply say _Lumos_? That's crazy.* his hands finally found the back of a chair. He hesitated for a second or two, then sat down.

Suddenly a bright light flashed, directly into his face, almost blinding him. He instinctively raised a hand to cover the source of the light that gradually lost its brightness, but never stopped illuminating his face. It illuminated nothing but his face.

Harry swallowed hard, thinking that either poor McGonagall had gone mad, or something really very bad was about to happen. His situation clearly reminded him of an interrogation. But why was he being interrogated? WHY?

"You are surprised by the strange way of my greeting, aren't you?" the woman asked in a sullen voice.

"Quite much, Professor." Harry admitted. His dislike of the situation grew by the second.

"You are surely wondering why I wanted to see you in such a late hour." she said. "I won't take much of your time if you quickly answer my questions."

*Quickly? Then let's get over with it!* Harry thought. "It wasn't me, Professor McGonagall! I never wanted to turn Draco into a blossoming tree, and I never gloated over him, and I'd never love a cat, especially not if it belongs to Filch, and…"

"I have no idea what you are talking about, Potter," Minerva cut in "but it surely has nothing to do with what I want to discuss with you."

"No?" he knitted his eyebrows. If it wasn't about Draco, or himself falling for Mrs. Norris, what could it be then?

"I wish to talk with you about Ms. Weasley." she said glumly.

Harry's eyes widened in surprise. Did Pomfrey see them smooching? Did she tell Minerva? Oh, sure, that had to be it. "I… I promise not to kiss her anymore in the school, Professor. May I go?" 

"I'm not interested in you and Ginny _kissing_, Potter." McGonagall replied sternly. "But of course it has something to do with it… Do you love her?"

"Um, Professor… I…" he had no idea why the woman was asking him such a personal question.

"Yes or no will do."

"Well, yes." he shrugged. "But why?…"

"Do you love her enough to marry her?"

"What?" he blinked in surprise. "Marry? I'm just seventeen, and she's… she's underage, and…"

"You mustn't feel too young to marry her if you didn't feel too young to impregnate her."

"TO WHAT?????" Harry thought he'd fall out of his chair. "What… what did you say?" he stammered.

"I've said Ginny is expecting a baby… and I have all reasons to believe that the baby is YOURS." she pointed her index finger at him.

"That's out of the question, Professor." he protested. "She implemented the Anti-Conc… uh…" he slapped both hands on his mouth. *I've given myself away!*

McGonagall gave him a grim smile. "So, are you ready to marry her or not?"

* * * * *

Harry wished it had only been a nightmare. But it wasn't. As he was walking back to the dormitory, he kept bumping into statues of witches and wizards that hadn't been there before. Or had they? He was simply too distracted to mind his step. No, this couldn't be happening to him! 

Could it?

Now Trelawney's admonition came to his mind again. That crazy old hag was right! She was speaking of his child… HIS child!

He had to stop and lean against a wall, because he felt he'd faint if he didn't get something to support him. Squeezing his eyes shut, he prayed to wake up, wake up and see that this whole day – the most terrible day of his life – had only been a dream, nothing else. 

He had experienced more terrible things during his seventeen years than anyone in a whole life: losing his parents, being brought up by people who hated and despised him, having faced the Dark Lord for several times, fighting dragons, losing his bones, suffering snake-bite and beating from the Whomping Willow, and, surviving the _Avada Kedavra_ curse for two times. But nothing of these could be compared to the unbearable weight placed on his shoulders this night. 

He was going to be a father. 

__

A father? 

How could he be one? He had never had a father himself. Had no idea what a good dad should be like – not like Uncle Vernon, that's for sure.

And what was Ginny going to say when he told her? Because HE had to tell her - not Pomfrey, not McGonagall or anyone who had nothing to do with this child of theirs. 

__

The child of theirs…

Harry felt a funny, unknown warmth creep up his body, causing his heart want to jump out of his chest. 

*Oh my gosh, what have I got myself into?* he sighed and continued his way back to the dorm as soon as he felt his legs were strong enough to carry him.

In the room all four boys were fast asleep. Though Ron intended to stay up and wait for Harry to ask him about McGonagall's weird invitation, he couldn't help dozing off. 

Harry tiptoed to his four-poster, threw his robe on a chair and climbed into the bed. It was almost midnight. He was sure that he'd get no sleep that night at all.

Oh well, at least Ginny could rest now – for he had no doubt that from tomorrow she wouldn't be able to sleep either.

*I've got to tell her in the evening.* he thought. He had no idea how to tell her, though.

*Okay, Gin, you see, Pomfrey lied to you, and to everyone. You have no illness called… whatever, you are with a child.* he shook his head. *That's too silly.*

*Ginny, will you marry me? Please, consider, if you don't want to bring shame on your family… oh, no, too formal.*

*Hiya, Gin, sorry to tell, but I knocked you up back in the prefect's pool. Wanna marry me?* he slapped his forehead. *Can't you think of anything better, Potter?* he asked himself.

*Oh, Ginny, I have to tell you something very important. Please, don't get frightened. I know, it must be kinda scary, but we'll manage to deal with it… together.* he nodded. *That's much better. Needs some refinement but will work. It has to.*

Since sleep eluded him the whole night, Harry decided to 'prepare' for next day's history of magic test. He took his wand, whispered _Lumos_ and started to write a cheat sheet. The possibility of being caught hung like a sword of Damocles over him, but Binns catching him cheating was nothing compared to McGonagall telling him about Ginny's pregnancy. He just hoped he wouldn't fall asleep during the test.

* * * * *

Next morning Ron, Neville, Seamus and Dean found a fully-clothed Harry slumbering above a sheet with dates and names copied from a book that lay open in Harry's lap. His head bent on his shoulder, his glasses slipped down to the tip of his nose, his wand hovering in mid-air, still lit. 

"He must have had a tough night, guys." Dean stated while Ron reached out to pat Harry's arm. 

"Hey, buddy, wake up! It's time to have breakfast!"

Harry blinked, opened his eyes and for a minute had no idea what happened. It was just a usual morning, wasn't it?

__

Oh, no, it wasn't.

As he got a glimpse of his wand he suddenly remembered why he had stayed up for a long time. No, not because of the history of magic test – because of his terrible guilt.

"Hey, you okay?" Ron asked after two minutes of silence. What happened to his friend? He used to be more talkative.

"Um, yes, I'm fine." Harry replied, re-adjusting his glasses and catching his wand. "_Nox_!" the light was put out, and he turned back to Ron. "I stayed up studying. That's all."

"_Studying_, eh?" Seamus snickered, pointing at the cheat-sheet on Harry's bed. "Don't worry, we've also written some of those. Just to make sure that we don't forget Randolf the Ridiculous and Stan the Stinky."

Harry grinned and followed the boys downstairs.

* * * * *

"'Morning, Herm." Ron greeted his new girlfriend who was deeply immersed in reading the second volume of _Beautiful Bill's Biography_ at the table, chewing a sandwich.

"Good morning, Ron." she didn't glance up. 

"Hello, Hermione." Harry said. "What are you reading? Some additional data about the goblin revolutions, maybe?"

The girl turned red. "No. I've already studied for the test. I just decided to brush up on my knowledge on Indian Wizardry."

"Indian?" Harry asked.

"Ah, it's just Beautiful Bill." Ron explained.

"Who?"

"Lord William Montgomery from the last century." Ron replied. "He was very handsome, so he got the nickname Beautiful Bill. He spent two decades in India, making studies on the local charms. He learnt a lot about serpent charming, means of the fakirs and things like that. But according to mother, his most significant work was the book '_Why are cows holy animals when they don't even have any magical powers_'. By the way, Harry, what did McGonagall want from you at ten o'clock?"

Harry flinched. "Nothing… well, she wanted to talk about the Quidditch team."

Hermione looked up from her book. "At ten o'clock?"

"I guess she didn't recognise how late it was." Harry shrugged and prayed that neither Ron nor Hermione would ask any more questions. He hated to lie, especially to his best friends. 

He was in luck – Hermione was way too interested in Beautiful Bill's Biography to start inquiring now, and Ron was so hungry that he decided rather to use his mouth for eating than for talking. 

Harry started stirring his too hot cocoa, not paying attention to anyone or anything around him. His thoughts were far away from the Great Hall. They were by Ginny. He still didn't know how to tell her the shocking news. Then a sudden idea came to his mind: what about asking Sirius? 

Since his innocence had been proven the previous year, Sirius Black had been working with Arthur Weasley in the Misuse of Muggle Artefacts Office. Of course it was not the right job for such a talented wizard as Sirius, but – as far as Harry knew – his godfather was satisfied with having something useful to do. There were still many people wary about him, not believing in his innocence, but many others had no doubt that he wasn't guilty. Last year Black helped the students of Hogwarts to deal with another attack of Voldemort – a really serious one – this way gaining the trust of many wizarding families.

*Okay. I'll write him a letter then. Right after the test.* Harry thought.

When the trio stood up from the breakfast table, a malicious voice stopped them:

"Hey, Potter, will you invite me to your wedding?" it was Malfoy, of course.

Harry's mind froze. How could Draco know about his impending 'marriage'? Did McGonagall or Pomfrey tell him? But why _him_, of all people?

"What… are you talking about?" Harry turned to Malfoy.

A vicious grin spread on the blond boy's face. "I heard about your romance with Mrs. Norris. I was just curious when the wedding would take place. Will Weasley be your best man? Oh no, you should ask Granger's cat for that important role. And Hagrid's new smelly pets could be the bridesmaids."

"Oh, shut up, Malfoy!" Hermione yelled at him. "And consider what you are saying, Mr. Blossoming Apple Tree!"

"I bet you were enjoying yourself when you saw me that way, weren't you?" Malfoy smirked. "But you know, I still looked better than your little friend snogging with the caretaker's cat!"

"I wasn't…" Harry began, but Ron took him by the arm and pulled him out of the Great Hall.

* * * * *

Besides the small scrabbling noises of the quills, nothing could be heard in the room. Professor Binns was tugging his astral beard and gazing at his desk, in firm belief that no student in his class would ever dare to cheat. That was why he never used anti-cheating charms for the quills. He trusted his students more than his own abilities in teaching. Well, he shouldn't have. 

After everyone handed him their tests, he left the classroom through the chandelier.

"This was the best test I've ever written." Ron beamed as the trio walked into the western wing of the castle for their next lesson – Defense Against the Dark Arts. 

"Sure, you never stopped cheating." Hermione gave him a disapproving look. "This way you'll never know anything about the goblin revolutions."

"Who cares?" Ron laughed. "Right, Harry?"

"Huh?" Harry looked confused. "Sorry, I was thinking."

"Thinking? Of what?" Hermione asked. She wasn't used to Harry not listening to his best friends.

"Sorry." Harry muttered. "I've got to go to the owlery. See you in fifteen minutes. Should I be late for the beginning of the lesson, please, tell Professor Lupin that I'd be coming soon, okay?"

As Hermione watched Harry run upstairs, Ron spoke up: "Something is wrong with him. He has been so distracted since he woke up. Something is troubling him pretty much. But he wouldn't tell me."

"That's not like him." the girl declared. "I have a feeling that his strange behaviour has something to do with his visit at McGonagall's last night."

"You must be right." Ron nodded. "I don't think they were discussing _Quidditch_."

"I'm sure they weren't." Hermione stated sullenly. "But why on earth would Harry lie to us?"

"Dunno… why do I have a feeling that something bad is going to happen?"

"Because you are still attending Professor Trelawney's classes. You should have given it up long ago and learn something useful. Oh, well, c'mon, let's go to DADA."

"Okay." the boy smiled and took her hand. She didn't show any signs of still being angry with him about last night's chat. They entered the classroom hand in hand.

Meanwhile, Harry sat down on a window-sill of the owlery with a piece of paper in his hand. His snowy owl, Hedwig was making cheerful loops in the air, flew out of the window then returned, showing him how eager she was to carry his letter. 

"Okay, girl, okay, please, stay a bit calm, you are distracting me!" Harry patted the owl's head. "Let me finish this."

Hedwig gave him a reminding hoot that he hadn't even started the letter, let alone finish it. Harry heaved a deep sigh. He didn't know how to compose the letter to Sirius. His godfather would be very disappointed in him, for sure. 

"Okay." he mumbled and began to write.

__

Dear Sirius,

I fear I'm going to shock you with this letter, but that's not why I've written it. On the contrary: I'd like to ask for your advice, trusting your wisdom and lot of experience. (Though I'm sure you've never faced a problem like mine.) Okay, I won't be beating around the bush: I'm in love with Ginny Weasley. That wouldn't be a problem in itself, but well, we got past the platonic part of our relationship, and

"Oh my, how hard it is even to write it down!" he sighed, then continued writing.

__

…she is pregnant. I know that we did the stupidest thing there is, but it has happened and cannot be changed. Tonight I'll have to tell Ginny the news, and you can imagine how shocked she'll be. I have no idea how to tell her at all, but she has to get to know it – eventually she is the mother, isn't she? It was strange enough for me to be the first to know it, even before her – McGonagall told me last night – I presume she had been told by Madame Pomfrey. (Pomfrey examined Ginny after she had fainted yesterday during Transfiguration.) McGonagall insists that I marry her! Sirius, this gives me the creeps! I love Ginny, truly, but, you know, we are both too young, and don't even know how to be parents. (I for one surely don't.) The mere thought of telling Ginny the news makes me get butterflies. What if she says no? What will happen when people get to know about the baby? Eventually this is not something you can hide for a long time, is it? Could you help me somehow? Give my some pieces of advice? (And please, don't send a howler, no matter how much you feel like doing so, because we have to keep it a secret, at least until Dumbledore returns.)

Thank you in advance for your understanding.

Harry

"There, I'm ready." he gave Hedwig a half-smile. She perched herself on his knees while he fastened the message on her leg. "Fly directly to Sirius, as fast as you can, and soon as he has written the answer, hurry back. This is urgent." The owl hooted her agreement and took off.

* * * * *

"…and that is why the knowledge of those ancient curses is so important. Mr. Weasley here could surely tell us some interesting details about Egyptian curses… oh, good to see you, Mr. Potter." Professor Lupin turned to the boy who entered the room ten minutes after the lesson's beginning. "Sit down please and listen to Mr. Weasley's presentation about the curses protecting the tombs of the Pharaohs and kings of Egypt."

Harry nodded and sat down as Ron stood up and walked to an overhead projector.

"Um, professor, I'm not sure I can use this thing." he said bewildered.

"I'm sorry, Mr. Weasley, but I have no idea how to use it either." Lupin smiled. "The parents of one of the Muggle-born students gave this thing to the school as a present. Professor McGonagall told me that it was used for showing pictures, but she didn't have time to explain it. Well, does anyone know how to turn this gadget on?"

Dean Thomas put his hand up. Since he had grown up among Muggles, he knew how to use such devices. 

"Yes, Mr. Thomas?" the professor smiled. "Please, help us out."

"I don't think this OHP will work here, professor." Dean admitted. "It works with electricity, you know."

"Ah, eclecticity?" Ron's face lit up. "My dad is totally fascinated by it. He has got some eclectic-shocks, though, but he still likes it."

"Imagine all ten single hairs of Mr. Weasley's stand on end!" Seamus whispered to Harry. He couldn't help but snicker at the thought. Hermione gave them both a despising stare. She turned to Lupin: "Even if we knew how to use this OHP, we still wouldn't be able to use it at Hogwarts. You know that Muggle gadgets don't work in the magical aura of the castle."

"Of course, you are right, Ms. Granger." Remus replied. "Okay, Ron, if we cannot use this… whatever it is, please just give your pictures around and tell us about the curses."

"Sure, professor." Ron nodded. "Well, you know, me and my family were in Egypt four years ago. We won the… never mind. So we were there and saw all the pyramids and the tombs in the Valley of Kings. My twin brothers wanted to shut Percy into a pyramid, but mom didn't let them. Not that he wouldn't have deserved to be stuck there, but… can you imagine what terrible fate he would have been exposed to? The Great Pyramid is protected by a curse deadlier than the _Avada Kedavra_."

"Rubbish!" Seamus cut in. "Nothing can be deadlier than that!"

"Wanna try it, Seamus?" Ron asked. "The _Avada Kedavra_ only makes you die, without you suffering any harm. But those curses torment you before they kill you. They are like a combination of _Crucio _and _Avada Kedavra_. First, a hundred of scarab beetles start to chew on your legs, eating themselves into your body. Then the skeletons of the priests who escorted the Pharaoh into the pyramid all lunge at you with sabres in their hands and chase you directly into the Pharaoh's resting chamber, where the Pharaoh's mummy strangles you with his own hands."

"My family was planning a journey to Egypt next summer." Lavender Brown said. "I'll suggest them to cancel it."

The class started to laugh.

"Thank you very much for your enjoyable presentation, Mr. Weasley. I couldn't have explained it better." Lupin stood up. "And now we are going to learn how to fight down attacking mummies…"

* * * * *

After lunch Harry visited Hagrid. He had promised to visit him the day before, but he couldn't do so after his incident with Mrs. Norris.

As he entered the groundkeeper's small wooden hut, he was struck by some terrible stink. He immediately remembered Malfoy's remark about Hagrid's new smelly pets being the bridesmaids at his wedding.

"Ha…hagrid?" Harry pinched his nose. "What… what is this stench?"

The shaggy half-giant turned to him, wearing the widest smile Harry had ever seen. "Oh, come Harry, come, you've got to see 'em!"

"Who? What?"

Hagrid led him to a corner where a bunch of greenish balls could be seen. "Now tell me, Harry, aren' they wonderful?" he asked with an enraptured voice.

"Um, are they a new type of bludgers that make the players faint from their smell instead of knocking them off their broomsticks?" Harry guessed.

"Nay." Hagrid shook his head. "They're real Martians."

"Real what?" Harry raised an eyebrow. Hagrid must have gone crazy.

"Martians." the groundkeeper repeated. "Olymp got 'em from a Russian wizard. Yeh know, the Russian wizards made secret journeys ter Mars ter compete with the American wizards. In fact the Americans were the firs' ter land on Mars with their '_Through-Space-2002'_ broomsticks, but the Russians were the firs' ter find intelligent beings on the planet."

*Intelligent?* Harry thought. He wouldn't call anyone or anything with such a smell intelligent. "Uh, Hagrid, and what can they do? Why are they so special besides their _interesting_ smell?"

"Why Harry, they're from Mars! It's enough ter make 'em special!"

"Ah, sure." Harry sighed, taking breath through his mouth. "And what will you do with Martian balls? Play Quidditch with them?"

"Oh, no." Hagrid guffawed. "They won' remain that way. They're very young, that's why they look like balls, but later on they'll uncurl and start ter grow."

"Groooow?" Harry thought for a second that his heart stopped. "_How big_ will they grow?"

"Um… to tell yeh the truth, I have no idea." Hagrid shrugged. 

Harry nodded. "What about going outside and discuss these wonderful creatures there?"

"Okay." Hagrid consented, though somewhat unwillingly. He didn't want to leave his precious new pets alone.

They sat down before the house, and Fang immediately ran to Harry, putting his head into Harry's lap.

"He missed yeh. Yeh haven't visited us in two weeks." Hagrid declared reproachfully. 

"I'm sorry, I've been busy." the boy answered.

"Something is wrong with yeh, kid." the giant said gently. "Hey, pour out yer heart. Can I help yeh?"

"If only you could." Harry sighed.

"Oh, I guess I know it." Hagrid chuckled. "Yeh're lamenting over that incident with Filch's cat, aren' yeh?"

Harry shook his head. "No, Hagrid, it's much worse than that." 

"Worse? What are yeh keeping from me?" Hagrid asked in a worried tone. "Never mind, everyone can have secrets."

"I wish I could keep this a secret forever." 

"Yeh sound very serious." the groundkeeper stated. "Has it somethin' ter do with You-Know-Who?"

"I wish it were that easy. Voldemort would only kill me. But this one would cause a terrible scandal, and I'll be expelled. This time nothing can stop it. Maybe this is the last time we are talking to each other, Hagrid."

"No, no, Harry, don' say such things! They cannot expel yeh, no matter what yeh did."

"But I made the most despicable thing one could do." the boy answered. "I still can't believe that I did it to the person I love the most in the whole world."

"Who?"

"Ginny." Harry sighed.

"And what?" Hagrid asked.

Harry didn't dare look into the giant's eyes, so he told it to his shoes. "I've knocked her up."

"What?" Hagrid's eyes grew so huge, that they were threatening to hop out of their sockets. "Are yeh kiddin'?"

Harry shook his head. "I understand if you don't want to be my friend anymore. I'm going to lose all my friends, anyway."

"But Harry, how could yeh think that I wouldn' be yer friend anymore? And what do you mean that you'd lose all yer friends?"

"Think Hagrid," Harry lifted his head, finally feeling brave enough to look into the groundkeeper's eyes, "when Ron gets to know what I did to his little sister, he'll want to kill me. Hermione will also despise me and… I'll have no one to turn to anymore."

"I'll be always there fer yeh, kid." the giant replied, placing his hand on Harry's shoulder, giving him a gentle squeeze. "Always. And I'll be a good great-uncle to yer kid, too… if yeh want me ter be one, that is."

"Thank you, Hagrid." a small smile appeared on Harry's face. The first smile since the previous evening.


	5. Dreams and confessions

Chapter 5 ****

A/N: thanks for all the feedback, people! Here are some responses to your reviews:

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Oonagh: You wrote the story was _usual_. Well, one thing is sure: later on it will be everything BUT usual. You have my word.

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bluemeanies: Ron beating up Harry? Well, you'll see… maybe not exactly what you are expecting, but… let it be a surprise!

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Tia'RaHu: well, other students might have been knocked up in Hogwarts' 1000-year-long history, but no books know about them, that's for sure. Speeding up or hiding the pregnancy? No way. It won't be hidden – there's a good reason for it. 

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mickey: you wrote that cheating on a test was OoC for Harry. Well, maybe… but making up fake predictions about his torments and death by decapitation in book four was also OoC. Wasn't it? And eventually every kid cheats a bit in school, even those who are way too into morals. (There's only one exception: Hermione.)

spitfyre: you asked a highly interesting question, but do you really, really think that I'll answer it?!

All right, enough of my blabbering, on to the show!

Enjoy and review!

****

Chapter 5

****

Dreams and confessions

Shortly after their talk, Hagrid left with Fang to teach the third-years about some vampire rabbits that lived on the meadows around the castle. Since Harry didn't have more classes that day, he decided to rest a bit in front of Hagrid's cottage. He sat on the grass, leaning to the wall of the house.

The murmur and yells of the third-years chasing the vampire rabbits didn't bother him, rather lulled him into a restless sleep. No sooner had he fallen asleep than he started to dream…

…He was back in his second year. It was 14th February. Gilderoy Lockhart was smiling in his pink robes, explaining why Valentine's Day was the most wonderful holiday of the year. Ron just told Hermione that he hoped that she wasn't among those forty-six people who had sent Valentines to Lockhart. Hermione blushed and started to look for something in her bag. Harry had the impression that there was no point in celebrating Valentine's Day at all, when a gruff-looking dwarf with wings and a golden harp in his hand shouted his name: "Hey, 'Arry Potter! You've got a Valentine!"

Harry wanted to run away, but the dwarf was quicker, overtook him and tripped him. "You are going to listen to your Valentine, 'Arry Potter!" he yelled at the sprawling boy, then straightened his back, cleared his throat and began to sing:

__

His eyes are as green as bright-coloured jade,

My true love for him will never fade,

He conceived my child, that can't be denied,

It was the best thing he ever made.

Harry thought he was going to faint. Every student's eyes were directed at him. Some of them had their mouths open, some were snickering, and someone stated "Well, well, well, exactly what you'd expect of the famous Potter!" it was Malfoy, of course.

"Who sent you this Valentine, Harry?" Ron turned to his friend. "Who did you knock up?"

"Who, Weasley?" Malfoy drawled. "None other than your little sister."

"What?" Ron cried, immediately searching for Ginny in the crowd. The girl managed to elbow her way out of the room. Draco yelled after her: "I don't think Potter liked your Valentine much!"

"Ah, Draco, you are worse than all the boggarts on Earth!" Hermione snapped.

"A boggart?" Ron and Harry turned to her. "We haven't learned about boggarts yet, Hermione! It'll only happen next year!"

"Who cares?" Hermione shrugged.

Suddenly the scene changed. They were in Remus Lupin's room in third year. Severus Snape raised from a cupboard. "_Ridikkulus_!" Neville said, his voice shaking. In the next instant Snape was wearing Neville's grandma's clothes. The class burst out laughing.

"Your turn, Harry." Lupin turned to him.

"But Professor, I'm not supposed to face my own boggart in this scene, am I? You know that it'd turn out to be either a Dementor or Voldemort himself, and you don't want to scare the class, do you? You are going to teach me _Expecto Patronum _later, anyway."

"No, Harry, it's time for you to face your boggart. Be prepared, it will be scary."

Harry swallowed the lump in his throat, raised his wand and prepared to shout '_Ridikkulus_'.

Slowly, the cupboard opened, revealing a redheaded girl – a heavily pregnant Ginny Weasley. "Hi, Harry!" she waved with her left hand, since in her right one she was holding the largest ice-cream he had ever seen. "I've just eaten a banana-split, but I was still hungry." Ginny explained. "I'm eating for two, you know…"

Harry's mind raced, trying to find an idea how to make a ridicule of his boggart – but found none. A pregnant Ginny was simply not funny, especially because she was carrying HIS child. 

"What are you waiting for, Harry?" Lupin smiled. "Go ahead, the class is getting bored."

"I can't, professor, I just cannot…" he mumbled.

"If you don't comply, all the others' boggarts will attack you, Harry." the professor warned him.

"I can't… I can't…" the boy shook his head. At that moment all the boggarts lunged at him, tearing his hair, pinching his nose… 

…then he woke with a start.

"Huh?" the first thing he saw was Hedwig perched on his shoulder. She had been pinching his ear gently. "Oh, my, Hedwig, I had the most terrible dream… it was maybe even worse than those ones when I dreamed about Voldemort killing people… So, you are back with the reply?"

The owl hooted friendly and let him undo the string on her leg. He unfolded the letter, and started to read:

__

Harry,

You were right, you and Ginny REALLY did the stupidest thing one could do at your age. Don't worry, I wasn't planning on sending you a howler – though you'd deserve it, young man. All I can give you as an advice is to be totally sincere to that poor girl. Don't start beating around the bush, get to the point. Women don't like waiting.

You wrote that getting married gave you the creeps – I understand that, Harry, but I strongly agree with Professor McGonagall – you HAVE TO marry Ginny. You mustn't leave her in trouble. And, if you really love her (as you said you did), I'm sure that you'd have proposed to her sooner or later. (OK, maybe later, but now there's no time to be wasted.) Look at the bright side of it: your child will be glad to have such young parents he'll get on well with. 

Now go to Ginny and remember: honesty is the best policy.

Tomorrow write me how your little confession – and proposal - worked out. 

Take care – of yourself, and of your family.

Sirius 

"My family?" Harry turned to Hedwig. "Do you get it? He is talking about MY family! My own family!" the owl pushed her feathery head to his cheeks. "Yeah, yeah, Hedwig, you are also part of my family, but imagine… I'm going to have a real family soon! I mean, if Ginny doesn't freak out and is willing to marry me. What do you think? Will she marry me?"

Hedwig moved her head up and down, as if nodding.

"Thanks, Hedwig, you helped a lot." Harry pulled her into an embrace – as much as a human being could embrace a bird. "Well, gotta go and tell her that she is going to be a mother. Wish me good luck!" he smiled at the owl, then ran in the castle's direction.

* * * * *

"I haven't seen Harry since the DADA class." Ron dropped himself down into a chair next to Hermione. 

"Neither have I." she answered.

"Of course you haven't. You've spent the whole time here, in the library." Ron pointed out. "Still reading Beautiful Bill?"

"Don't be infantile, Ron." she scowled at him. "I've been reading a book about non-wizard ailments. I was hoping to find something about your sister's illness."

"No need for that, Herm." Ron reached out for a strand of her hair and started to play with it. "She is okay, Madame Pomfrey will let her out of the infirmary tomorrow."

"I still have a premonition… that they are hiding something from us, Ron." she closed the book she had been reading.

"And you say I'm listening too much to Professor Trelawney…" Ron shook his head playfully. "It's you who's talking like her. Don't worry, will ya?" the boy's hand slipped from her hair to her cheek, caressing it.

"I'm not worried." she whispered.

"No?"

"No."

"Good." he closed their discussion with a gentle kiss.

"What a scene!" a sharp voice said aloud. "Aren't you guys afraid of remaining that way… glued together?"

Ron and Hermione jumped up, wearing a nice shade of crimson on their faces. 

"Malfoy!" Ron clenched his fists. "Were you spying on us?"

"No, why would I be?" Draco snarled at them. "I find nothing interesting about you two. You are no sensation at all. One of the hard-up Weasleys in love with the mudblood Granger. Who would care for it?"

"Then what the hell are you doing here?" Ron frowned.

"What? You wouldn't believe me if I told you I was about to read a book, would you?" he smirked. "And you'd be right. That's not why I'm here."

"Then?" Hermione raised her eyebrows.

"As I said, you two were no sensation, guys, but your precious friend, Potter is definitely one, and I suspect that something _really sensational_ is going to happen to him."

"Why should we believe you?" Hermione asked. "Why do you think that something is going to happen to him?"

"Why?" Draco's mouth tucked into a smirk. "Because he's just entered the medic bay, and I saw Pomfrey come out."

"And?" Ron was getting really annoyed. "What is so special about him visiting someone in the infirmary?"

"That 'someone' he is visiting right now is your little sister, Weasley." Malfoy said. "But you are right, it wouldn't be special in itself. The reason why it is special is the secrecy about his visit."

"What secrecy?" Ron and Hermione asked in unison.

"As I said, I saw Pomfrey leave." Draco explained. "But I didn't tell you that I followed her. She entered McGonagall's room, but left the door open. I managed to catch some words of their talk. McGonagall was talking about Harry having to tell Ginny something _extremely important_… um, maybe he found a crate full of gold and wants to give it to your sister, because he knows that you'd never accept it."

"Don't listen to this fool, Ron." Hermione told him. "Come on, let's go back to the common room."

Ron nodded and they left Malfoy in the library. As the door slammed shut behind them, a devilish smile spread on Draco's face. "You'll be surprised, Weasley. You have no idea how surprised you'll be." he murmured.

* * * * *

"You are a bad boy, Harry." Ginny knitted her eyebrows as she saw him enter the infirmary.

"Bad boy?" he asked, confused. "Uh, why?"

"Because you made me wait so long!" she smiled and stretched her arms out for him. He sat down on her bed. "Madame Pomfrey is going to let me leave the medic bay tomorrow morning." Ginny said cheerfully. "I'm happy that I can finally leave this place. Not that I don't like chocolate, but I've been longing for some broth and vegetables, and of course I missed my studies too, and… hey, Harry, is something wrong?"

"Huh? Oh, sorry." he gave her an apologising look. "I was a bit distracted."

"Distracted?" she folded her arms before her chest. "I thought I was the only one in the whole school who could make you 'distracted'. Really, Harry, what happened? You look concerned."

*Here we go.* he sighed and took her right hand, his gaze meeting hers. "I have to tell you something important, Ginny. Something serious… even scary. No, don't be afraid, it's not _that _bad… uh, well, it depends on your point of view, but… *no beating around the bush, get to the point!* okay, so McGonagall told me that you didn't really manage to accomplish that _Anti-Conceptus Charm_, my dear." *I've said it, I've said it!* his soul jumped for joy… for about a minute. But when he realised that Ginny was still silent, he started to feel uneasy. *Did she understand what I told her?*

"Ginny?" he whispered, squeezing her hand a bit. Maybe she was under a shock and needed to be shaken out of it.

"Mom will kill me." she said finally. "And you, too."

"If she kills me I'll never be able to marry you." Harry tried to joke.

"M…marry me?" she stammered.

"Yeah." he slipped down from the bed, fell to his knees, still holding her hand. "I'd be honoured if you married me, Virginia Weasley. I love you."

The girl was too touched to speak. The barely restrained sobs were nearly choking her, the weight of the consequences of their immature and foolish act crushing her fragile soul, the perception of the cruel truth reaching out for her like some dark, cold tentacles of a horrid magical creature.

She was pregnant.

And Harry Potter, the boy whom she had loved since she was ten, now proposed to her. He was asking her to be his wife.

__

The wife of Harry Potter…

"Ginny?" his worried voice broke the silence. "You can think it over. I'm not rushing you. If you cannot answer now, it's okay…"

"Shh!" she knelt down next to him, placing a finger on his mouth. "You potty Potter! How could you think that I'd need any more time to decide whether to marry you or not?… My answer is yes. I'd be glad to be your wife. I love you too."

"Oh, Ginny!" he sighed, pulling her into a tight embrace. 

Neither of them knew how long they were kneeling there, holding each other, Ginny sobbing aloud, Harry trying to stifle the tears of joy and relief. Everything was all right again.

__

Everything? Well, everything, with the exception of having to tell their secret to their teachers, their fellow-students, their relatives and friends… everyone in the wizarding world... and there will be a terrible scandal, for sure…

But for the moment time stood still for the betrothed lovers, neither of them caring about the world outside the medic room. There was no one else, but the two of them… and their unborn child. Holding and kissing Ginny, Harry didn't think of Trelawney's prediction – that a certain birth will bring about strange… and dark things. 

* * * * *

About an hour later Minerva McGonagall entered the infirmary. Harry and his new fiancee didn't notice her at once. They were sitting on the bed, with their backs turned on the door. Ginny's head was bent on Harry's shoulder, his right arm around her lithe body. They were talking about their future, of which they didn't have the vaguest idea, but still it felt so good to talk about it, to daydream and imagine an infinite happiness for the two – three – of them.

The always stern and indifferent professor McGonagall was touched by the sight of the kids sitting there, love and peace radiating from them. For a moment she just stood at the door, then cleared her throat to make them aware of her presence.

They turned to face her.

"I see everything worked out as planned, right Potter?" Minerva asked.

"Yes, professor." he nodded and stood up. Something was strange about him. Something was unusual. McGonagall couldn't really put a finger on it, but something changed in him. His face was the same: cute, looking somewhat younger than his real age – still, something was different. Maybe it was the usually soft line of his lips that now looked a bit firmer, maybe his eyes… they weren't sparkling in the usual mischievous way… they looked serious.

The professor was struck by the recognition that this boy had grown up – actually in less than twenty-four hours. It weren't the years that aged him, but the trials of life – and this one, the knowledge that he'd become a father – was the greatest trial in his life so far.

Now he looked the spitting image of his father – a man grown.

****

A/N2: Stay tuned for chapter six and witness the scandal break out!


	6. Rita Skeeter's article

Chapter 6 ****

A/N: Hi, everyone, chapter six is here as promised. I'm really happy that you like my story this much – I was surprised that even those like it, who are no H/G and R/Hr shippers.

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Morvidra: you asked me to finish the story – well, you'll have to wait a 'bit' for the end, I suppose… 

__

bluemeanies: no, she won't drop out. That would spoil everything…

__

persephone malfoy: the baby won't be born in the near future, since Ginny is only six weeks pregnant – be patient!

OK, read, enjoy and REVIEW!!!

****

Chapter 6

****

Rita Skeeter's article

Fleur Delacour Weasley went downstairs to make breakfast for her husband, Bill. She saw that the _Daily Prophet_ had just arrived. *Oh well, breakfast can wait.* she thought and sat down at the table, unfolding the paper. Her eyes skimmed over the pages, looking for the '_Health and Fashion_' column, which usually was to be found on the fifth page. This time Fleur's eyes stopped on the fourth page. A headline captured her attention.

*Oh, my! Bill has to see this!* she dropped the cup of coffee she was holding and ran upstairs. Halfway to their bedroom, she bumped into her very sleepy mother-in-law.

"Oh, good morning, Fleur, dear." she smiled.

"Good mo'ning, Molly." she said and disappeared in her and Bill's room.

* * * * *

"Holy Snitch, that can't be true!" Bill frowned. "It's just another fiction of Rita Skeeter's."

"But what if it iz true?" Fleur asked. "We 'ave to show zis to your muzzer."

"You are right. She'll get to know it, anyway. Owls will be flocking into our house soon, asking if it's true or not. Poor mom."

"Poor Ginny." Fleur corrected her husband. "An'… poor 'Arry."

"Yeah." Bill sighed. "But they should have thought it over before they… if they really did it, then they'll have to face the consequences." his face turned serious. "C'mon, let's tell it to mom."

* * * * *

"Mother, we have to tell you something important." Bill began.

Mrs. Weasley didn't pay attention to him at first, she was absorbed in making breakfast.

"So, well, you are going to be a grandmother."

Molly dropped the scoop.

"What?" she turned around, her face beaming. "You mean… that you two…" she dashed to Fleur and gave her a big hug, then pulled Bill into an embrace. "Oh, you can't imagine how happy you made me, I'm…"

"Mom, please, let us finish." Bill interrupted. "It's not Fleur and me who are going to have a baby."

Molly's smile faded a bit. "Charlie, then?"

Both Bill and Fleur shook their heads.

Molly's smile faded a bit more. "Percy and Penelope?"

Fleur and Bill shook their heads again.

Molly's smile disappeared. "Fred? George?"

Head-shake.

Molly's face turned dead-pale. "Ronniekins? Please, say it's not him… oh no, _no, say it's him,_ _say it's HIM_… rather, than my Ginny!"

Bill heaved a deep sigh and placed a hand on his mother's shoulder. "Sorry mom, but… look at this." he handed her the _Daily Prophet._

Five minutes later the twins ran downstairs, laughing. They had just received and owl from the W.C. - the _Wheezy Community_ - that their new invention, the liquid toilet seat, had won the first prize of the W.H.I.N.E – the _Wonderfully Hilarious Inventions of National Enchanters_.

As they arrived at the living room, they saw Bill fanning their mother with a copy of the _Daily Prophet_. Mrs. Weasley was lying on a sofa, clearly unconscious.

"What happened to her?" George asked.

Bill handed him the newspaper.

Fred and George hopped down on another sofa and started reading. 

When Bill saw that they were finished with the article, he asked: "Well, what do you think?"

An impish smile appeared on Fred's face. "That Harry is a naughty boy… I always knew he had it in him."

"Is that all you can comment on this?" Bill looked surprised.

"No!" George laughed. "I'm happy that I'm gonna be an uncle! Good that it wasn't Percy who first made us uncles, right, Fred?"

"Right, George!" his twin smirked. "Should we send a thank-you-card to Harry?"

"Why not? And a pack of diapers to Ginny!"

Molly was just about to regain consciousness when she heard the word 'diapers'. She fainted again.

* * * * *

That night Harry managed to have a good night's sleep. He felt in peace with the world, his guilty conscience didn't bother him that much anymore. Ginny accepted his proposal, so he'd have an opportunity to make his mistake good. He still had a day before Dumbledore returned, so he didn't need to worry about having to tell the news to Ron, Hermione and the others. 

He was the first to wake up that morning. He jumped out of the bed, dressed up and headed for the owlery to send a letter to his godfather.

__

Dear Sirius,

Everything is all right. Ginny and I are going to get married soon. (Of course she has to get the parental consent, but I'm sure that Mr. and Mrs. Weasley won't stand in our way. They like me, anyway.) So I'm getting married to the pretties girl of the wizarding world. I love her and she loves me. The world is beautiful and I'm happy.

Nothing can ruin my happiness now! (Though I don't know how to tell Ron and the others yet. How quickly do you think the news will spread? What will the whole wizarding community think? Will they despise us? I hope not. Even if they will, please say that you won't! You know how important your opinion is for me.)

Harry

On his way back from the owlery, he met Ron.

"You look pretty chipper today." Ron remarked. "Glad to see you happy again. I didn't like the sulking Harry."

"The sulking Harry belongs to the past. Are you as hungry as I am?"

"No, I'm hungrier!" Ron said, and they went downstairs to the Great Hall.

When they arrived at the breakfast table, Hermione gave Harry a questioning look. He didn't perceive it, though.

They had just started to eat when the owls flew into the hall with the daily posts.

Ron, Harry and Hermione didn't get any messages, so they finished their meals and headed for the door when a malicious voice stopped them.

"Tut, tut, tut, Potter, I knew you were a no-good bastard, but I would never have thought that you'd be capable of _this_!"

"What the hell have you concocted again, Malfoy?" Ron snapped.

A diabolic smirk appeared on Draco's face. Hermione cringed from his expression. She had a very bad feeling – and it was somehow connected to their previous evening's dispute with Malfoy. This boy knew something that they didn't. But what?

"I haven't concocted anything, Weasel." Draco replied. "Have you seen today's paper?"

Harry, Ron and Hermione exchanged confused looks.

"So you haven't." the blond boy drew the conclusion. "Want to have a look at it? It's darn interesting, especially for you, Potter." he threw the _Daily Prophet_ to Ron and left with a huge smirk on his face.

The trio peered into the paper. Seeing the headline, Harry started to feel dizzy, Hermione's jaw dropped and Ron's face turned as red as his hair.

****

Who does Harry Potter love?

__

Ginny Weasley or the caretaker's cat?

An amazing report from Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry

by Rita Skeeter

Who would have thought? The famous and venerable Harry Potter turned out to be by far not as honest as we all believed him to be. Did he conquer You-Know-Who at the age of one? Did he successfully battle him over and over the years? Maybe. But this Harry Potter is the same who kept crossing lines again and again – according to Professor Severus Snape, Potions teacher at Hogwarts.

"That boy has always been up to something. Reckless and naughty – the greatest ringleader the school has ever seen."

And now this greatest ringleader of Hogwarts has really crossed the mark. 

After having fallen in love with Argus Filch's cat, Mrs. Norris – as a result of an attraction potion made at Professor Snape's class, - Harry Potter left for the infirmary, where a young lady, Ms. Virginia Weasley was being examined. This poor, innocent girl had fainted during a Transfiguration class with Professor McGonagall. She was taken to the medic bay, where Potter later visited her. 

We can only imagine Potter's horror-stricken expression when he was informed about Ms. Weasley's faint – for this boy had all reasons to believe that the whole world collapsed around him. 

Still under the effect of his burning desire for the caretaker's cat, he left the hospital wing and headed for his dorm. He fell asleep soon – who knows whom he was dreaming about: Ms. Weasley or Mrs. Norris? Not much later Madame Pomfrey, the medic of the school woke him, saying that Professor McGonagall wanted to talk to him. (We must mention that Professor Dumbledore was absent that day.) No one knew what they could be talking about in the middle of the night, but the following day Potter seemed to be incredibly distracted. As if he was absent-minded, or something. 

The revelation of the truth still hadn't come, though. 

That evening, however, Potter again visited Virginia Weasley. If this wasn't suspicious, then nothing! 

Fortunately a watchful student of Potter's grade managed to overhear a discussion between Pomfrey and McGonagall about the proposal Potter was about to make to Ms. Weasley.

Proposal? At their age? Why? – you would ask.

Now Rita Skeeter is unveiling the answers to these questions:

  1. Proposal? – Yes. Do you think that young Ms. Weasley has another choice?

  2. At their age? – Exactly. They simply cannot wait any longer.

  3. Why? – Because Ms. Weasley is expecting a baby – a little Potter.

Now do you still think of 'The Boy Who Lived' as someone holy and respectable? 

Do you still think that everyone can make mistakes? Well, you may think so, but don't forget: this time you are speaking about Harry Potter – and if someone, then HE should have set an example for his fellow-students. He seems to have failed. 

By the time they read through the article, not only had Ron's face turned as scarlet as the Hogwarts Express, but his hands holding the paper had also started to shake.

"Is… is this true, Harry?" he asked in a low voice.

Harry glimpsed at Hermione, pleading her to do something, but the girl didn't see his hidden plea. Even is she saw it, she had no intention of helping him out. There was no way out of this situation. He was trapped. He took a deep breath and said: "Yes Ron, it is."

Both Ron and Hermione gasped. 

"How… how could you?" Ron clenched his fists. Harry hadn't seen him this furious in their seven-year friendship. Not even when Ron was angry with Malfoy. No… this was not only anger – it was _hate._

He couldn't stand his friend's - _ex-friend's_ – stare, so he looked at the girl standing next to them. 

"Have you got no shame, Harry?" she scowled at him. By that time Harry was sure that neither of his two friends would give him any support. On the contrary. He needed support AGAINST them. 

"I'm… I'm so sorry…" he mumbled. "Ron, I love your sister, and I'm gonna marry her, and…"

"I don't want a fucking bastard like you to become my brother-in-law!" Ron howled at him and ran out of the hall.

"Herm…" Harry turned to the girl.

"So that was why I couldn't find clupea in _Common Magical Ailments and Afflictions_."

"Huh?"

"Never mind, Harry." she said. Her voice was full of sadness. Not fury, not hatred, just eternal sadness… and it tore at Harry's heart like a dagger. It hurt him even more than Ron's hateful stare. 

"Herm, do you…"

"Not now, Harry." she turned on her heels and left.

Ron left, Hermione left – Harry was left alone.

Alone.

****

A/N 2: So, what do you think? Sorry if there are repeated words like 'you you' – my PC has gone crazy, and when saving the Word document in HTML format, it likes to repeat words, and I cannot do anything to prevent it.

Chapter 7 will be up soon, with a VERY-VERY angry Ron. Until then, review, review, review!!! 


	7. Nick's lucky day

Chapter 7 ****

A/N: thanks for the reviews, people! Some comments on them:

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bluemeanies: you wrote that Arthur should have a fit – well, Arthur won't be mentioned at all – not yet, anyway. I thought he wasn't _that_ important, since it's Molly who actually wears the trousers in the family, isn't she? You also asked how Skeeter got to know. Well, Rita writes in the article that a "watchful student" of Potter's grade revealed the information to her. So just think, and you'll know who it is...

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Juliana Black: you really, really think that Draco ISN'T EVIL???? You are quite misguided, then. He IS evil! (Though I like him, truly like him!!! He is one of my fav characters!)

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spitfyre: You got that thing with Draco well – I'm happy that at least someone managed to read between the lines… You wrote that you didn't like Harry and Ron being enemies. Sorry, I couldn't leave that out – it was the most obvious reaction Ron could have - but wait till this chapter ends ;-) About Hermione – well, I don't think that she should have stayed with Harry, hugging him and saying that "it's okay, it's okay…" – that is not the reaction I'd expect of her, or of anyone in her place. 

All right, have fun, and don't forget to review!

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Chapter 7

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Nick's lucky day

When Hermione entered the infirmary, Ginny was dressing up, humming some melody. She looked happy. 

This WASN'T the kind of behaviour Hermione had expected from her friend. She expected to see a depressed, shameful, pathetic girl. She found a chipper one instead.

"Hello, Ginny." she greeted her.

"Hi, Hermione. How are you doing?"

"Not well… since I read today's paper."

Ginny's eyes widened. "Why? What's in there?"

"You." Hermione replied. "And your pregnancy. But… you aren't the 'sensation' in that article. It's Harry, of course… there will be a terrible scandal – well, there already is…"

Ginny dropped herself on the bed. "Poor dear." she sighed. "He has suffered so much. Don't you think it was time for his torments to come to an end?"

"How… how can you speak of him that way… after what he'd done to you?" Hermione wondered.

"How?" Ginny smiled. "I love him, that's how."

"And don't you care what people would think of your relationship… your illegitimate child, and everything?"

"Our child WON'T be illegitimate." the red-haired girl stood up with a stern look on her delicate face. "Harry proposed to me last night and I accepted." her mouth tucked into a smirk. "And you can be my bridesmaid… and later on…"

"Yes?" Hermione raised her eyebrows. "What will be later on?"

"You'll be mine sister-in-law, this way Harry's sister-in-law, too." Ginny replied with a grin.

Hermione blushed. "Why are you telling me such impossible things, huh?"

Ginny snickered. "'Cause Ron loves ya, doesn't he? And you love him back, right?"

"Oh, well… maybe."

"Herm, Herm, don't play the modest little girl! You two were made for each other, and I'd be happy to have you as my sister-in-law!"

"Thanks." the other girl gave her a sad smile. "But your brother doesn't want Harry to be his brother-in-law."

Ginny knitted her eyebrows. "Why?"

"Because… because… he… he knocked you up… without his… um, _brotherly consent_."

"Can you picture me asking for his consent?" Ginny giggled. "Imagine: _hi, Ron, I decided to sleep with Harry, but we both are going to forget about taking precautions. Well, would you like to have a little niece or nephew?_ – And then he'd say_: if it really would be Harry's, then you have my blessings…_ isn't it hilarious, Hermione?" 

"I don't think it is." Hermione answered. "Um, Ginny, did you _really _forget to take precautions… or was it your deliberate…"

"Oh, no, of course it wasn't deliberate. We were… we were just… we weren't thinking, that's what happened."

"I see." the other girl smirked. "And, uh… is he good in bed?"

"No idea." Ginny shrugged. "We didn't do it in a bed."

"Where, then?" a clear curiosity appeared on Hermione's face.

"The Prefect's bath." Ginny turned red.

"Wha… Wow, you had the nerve to… holy house-elves, Ginny, how could you… and how did you know the password?"

"Ah, Harry overheard you telling it to another prefect." Ginny chuckled.

"So… I unintentionally contributed to the conception of your baby." Hermione stated. "Whew, had I known it…" she shook her head in disbelief. "Was it your idea to meet him there?"

"Nope, it was his."

Hermione looked shocked. "Did Harry have the intention of seducing you in the Prefect's bathroom? I can't believe he did something like that!"

"Then don't believe it… because he didn't."

"Didn't what?"

"Seduce me there. It was me who seduced him."

Hermione gasped. Ginny? The ever-modest, over-shy Ginny – seducing Harry Potter? For Voldemort's sake, this was incredible! 

"Surprised, are you?" Ginny asked. "I can understand that. But please, don't say that you won't be my friend anymore!"

"Why would I say that?" Hermione frowned. "I'm not like Ron."

"Oh, Ron." Ginny sighed. "He'll have to get used to the thought of having Harry in the family." Ginny said. "And I don't think that his fury will be permanent. He is just pretending to be hurt."

"Let's hope that you are right… sister-in-law." Hermione gave her an impish grin, and the two girls embraced.

* * * * *

Harry headed for the greenhouses where the Gryffindors were to have a Herbology lesson together with the Slytherins. The thought turned his stomach, but he decided to face Draco and put up with his malicious remarks. Come what may.

Draco wasn't in the greenhouse, though. Professor Snape had asked Professor Sprout to let Malfoy help him with a difficult potion. 

Crabbe and Goyle were also absent, since they never abandoned their precious 'master', Draco.

When Harry entered the greenhouse, no one looked up. No one even cared for him. The students didn't seem to have heard – or read - the news yet. That was a good sign – at least Harry could have another hour without anyone mocking him.

He walked into the farthest corner of the greenhouse and sat down.

Three metres away from him Millicent Bulstrode and Pansy Parkinson were sitting at a table, putting their heads together.

"So, what did you exactly dream, Millicent?" Pansy asked.

"It was the strangest dream I've ever had." the ugly and fat Millicent whispered.

"Why are you whispering?" 

"Because it's a secret." Millicent said. 

"Out with it, what was your dream about?" Pansy looked impatient.

"Well, there was a little goblin telling me that I'd marry the naughtiest boy in England."

"That's all?"

"Well, yea." Millicent shrugged. "I asked him who that boy was, but he said that I'd find it out soon… VERY soon."

"Funny dream." Pansy replied.

About a minute later Ron entered the greenhouse, followed by Hermione. Harry looked up. Their eyes met.

Ron's face contorted into a mask of a blood-thirsty werewolf, but only for a second. He turned away from Harry and sat down at the other end of the small building. 

Hermione didn't divert her stare so quickly. Harry saw many different emotions on her face: sorrow, sympathy, and something telling '_don't give up on Ron, Harry_!'.

Then she also sat down, next to Ron. Professor Sprout entered, and the lesson began.

Half an hour later Prof. Sprout told them that she had to leave for ten minutes, but they all should carry on with re-potting the '_Loreley's Hair'_. (It was a plant that looked a bit like a pink slug with blue fur, but at least it had a good smell.) 

Harry was just about to tug it out of its pot when an owl flew into the greenhouse, dropping an envelope on his head. The letter fell on the floor. Harry crouched down and took it into his hand.

The envelope was red. RED.

*Oh my, a howler!* his mind screamed. He didn't know what to do: open it, or not? Let it explode?

By that time everyone's eyes were set on him.

"What are you waiting for, Potter?" one of the Slytherins shouted.

"Open it! Open it!" all Slytherins, and even some of the Gryffindors yelled in unison. They badly needed something to gossip about.

The envelope in Harry's hand started to give out smoke. He gulped, and tore it open.

The sharp voice of Mrs. Weasley filled the greenhouse:

HOW DARE YOU DO THAT TO MY LITTLE GIRL, HARRY POTTER? 

A window of the greenhouse broke from the unusually loud voice. Not even the mandrakes could scream that loudly.

ARTHUR, ME AND THE WHOLE FAMILY HAVE ALWAYS TRUSTED YOU, BUT YOU ABUSED OUR CONFIDENCE! HAVE YOU GOT NO SHAME? 

Another window broke.

I WILL NEVER, NEVER-EVER FORGIVE YOU FOR DOING THAT TO MY DEAR LITTLE GINNY! WE HAVE BROUGHT UP OUR DAUGHTER IN HONESTY AND MODESTY, BUT YOU MANAGED TO CORRUPT HER, AND BROUGHT SHAME ON OUR FAMILY!

Two other windows broke.

I HOPE THAT THE DAILY PROPHET WAS RIGHT, AND YOU _REALLY_ PROPOSED TO GINNY! DON'T YOU DARE TRY TO FIND EXCUSES, BECAUSE IF YOU DON'T MARRY HER, I'LL STRANGLE YOU WITH MY OWN HANDS, UNDERSTOOD? I WON'T LET YOU LEAVE MY DAUGHTER IN TROUBLE, YOUNG MAN! IF IT WAS HER DESTINY TO HAVE YOUR CHILD, THEN SO BE IT, BUT YOU'LL GIVE YOUR NAME TO THAT BABY, CAPISH?

By the time Molly Weasley's tirade ended, all windows were broken, glass splinters scattered everywhere on the greenhouses' floor.

The students didn't notice it, though. They were too dumbfounded by the content of the howler. Harry Potter… impregnating Ginny Weasley?

After a minute's silence, everyone started to speak at once. 

"Is this true, Harry?"

"You really knocked her up, Potter?"

"Is she any good, Potter?"

"I thought you were impotent, Potter!"

"I bet you couldn't make a boy!"

"I bet Ginny deliberately got pregnant to be able to leave her miserable family!"

"You happy now, Weasley? You are gonna have a rich relative!"

Everyone was shouting… everyone but Millicent. She was just standing there, her mouth open, an extremely stupid expression on her face.

"What happened to you, Milli?" Pansy shouted to her, trying to out-bellow the crowd. 

"It's… it's HIM!" Millicent stammered.

"Who? What?" Pansy yelled.

"Potter!" the stout girl replied in an enamoured, dreamy voice.

"What? I can't hear! Speak up!" Pansy cried. "What is Potter?"

"My future husband!" Millicent sighed, placing her hands on her heart.

"Whaaaat?"

"You heard, what he had done! He IS the naughtiest boy in England! He is the one the goblin in my dream was talking about!"

"You are crazy, Milli!"

The others didn't hear the two girls' discussion. There was such a clamour that no one even noticed when Professor Sprout entered the room.

She made a fanning movement with her wand, sending up red sparkles. 

Finally everyone noticed her.

The greenhouse went silent.

"For You-Know-Who's sake, what happened here?" she gaped at the broken windows. "Who did this? I WANT an explanation!"

For a moment a gloomy silence hung in the air, then at once everyone shouted: "POTTER!", pointing their index-fingers at the poor boy standing at the very end of the building.

"Potter?" Professor Sprout turned to him. "Have you broken all these windows?"

"No, Professor… but it's a long story…" Harry drawled. "I admit that it is my fault."

"Then you'll stay here and repair it after class." Sprout scowled at him. "I don't want to see a single splinter here! Not a single one, understood?"

Harry nodded.

"Class dismissed."

All the students swarmed out of the badly damaged greenhouse – all but one.

"Um, may I help you?"

Harry turned around to see Millicent Bulstrode standing at the door, wearing a sheepish smile.

"Huh? Oh, no, thanks. I can manage it alone." Harry answered. "But thank you, really."

*When has she become so kind? And why?* he wondered.

"Then maybe some other time." Millicent smirked. When smirking, she was even uglier than usual. "See you at dinner."

"Sure, bye." Harry muttered and waited until the girl left. *What the hell got into her?* he thought, then shrugged. If Millicent had gone crazy, that wasn't his problem.

He raised his wand, concentrating on the glass splinters, and shouted: "_Reparo_!"

****

* * * * *

After having finished the repair-works in the greenhouse, Harry decided to try and talk to Ron. He found only Hermione, though. She told him that Ron had gone downstairs, maybe into the dungeons.

Harry also went downstairs. *What could Ron be doing here? It's so creepy and dark… but I can understand if his mood is also dark now that all the Slytherins know about Ginny and me. It must be very hard for him.*

After walking for about fifteen minutes in the dimly lit corridors, Harry heard steps. He turned right at a corner and bumped into Ron.

"I've been looking for you." he said.

"Why?" Ron shoved him away. "To be able to laugh at me? Poor Weasley, he not only has no money, but his sister is a whore, too! Really, Harry, you'd enjoy hearing people tell me that, wouldn't you?"

Harry's eyes narrowed. "If I didn't know that you are only mad, I'd think that you don't know me at all. I'd never enjoy seeing you suffer. And believe me, I'm suffering as much as you are, or even more."

"Oh, how sorry I am for you, _poor, unfortunate Harry_!" Ron shouted. "You've got money, fame, talent, respect, dozens of groupies and now my sister too! WHAT ELSE DO YOU WANT?"

"I want your friendship back." Harry replied softly.

"To hell with you!" Ron bawled and turned to leave him, but Harry grabbed his arm.

"Wait, Ron, I love your sister, I truly do, and…"

Ron knocked him over, instinctively raising his wand.

Harry jumped up, his wand held at the ready, too. "Listen, Ron, I'm sure we can discuss this like civilised people!"

"_Civilised?_ How dare you utter that world after having behaved like an animal, giving into your dismal desires?" Ron flung his wand.

"Dismal? It wasn't dismal, Ron!" Harry shouted. "I can assure you that my feelings for Ginny are the purest one could think of!"

"You liar!" Ron pointed his wand at him. Harry saw that his friend was at the end of his tether, no longer being able to control his actions. He jerked his wand before himself, into a defending position, when he heard a cackling voice of Peeves shout: '_Good, boy, finish him off! He doesn't deserve your friendship, remember what he'd done to poor, sweet little Ginny!'_

"Peeves, you idiot, hold your tongue!" it was Nearly Headless Nick.

But Ron didn't hear him. The desperate fury and the tearing pain because of his friend's betrayal made him deaf and blind. All he could think of was avenge.

"Ron, please, let's talk!" Harry begged.

"_Stabbus_!" Ron yelled at last, sending a purple streak of light in Harry's direction.

"_Expelliarmus_!" Harry shouted only a millisecond later, ejecting blue shower of sparks. At midway, the purple streak and the blue sparks met, suddenly deviating from their original track. The blue sparks hit the corridor's walls, the purple light swished through Nearly Headless Nick, bouncing into the ceiling, sending a chandelier down onto the floor.

For a moment both boys stood rooted to the spot, neither of them speaking, only panting heavily. Their eyes locked, their wands still in their outstretched hands.

Suddenly a cheerful voice shook them out of their shocked silence.

"Look at this, kids! I'm not _nearly headless_ anymore!" Nick shouted, tossing his head from one hand into the other. "Ronnickie, you severed my head from my body with your curse! Yippieeee! I'm gonna be member of the Headless Hunt! Sir Patrick cannot refuse to accept me anymore! Thank you forever, Ronny!" Nick embraced and kissed the bewildered boy, who felt as if he had been kissed by an icicle. He shivered as Headless Nick swooped towards the ceiling, making loops and howling at the top of his astral lungs that '_Thank you so much, Ronny Weasley, I am headless, not just nearly_!', and with a final hop he disappeared through the ceiling.

Ron and Harry followed him with their eyes, only then glimpsing at each other again, when Headless Nick disappeared.

Ron gulped. "Holy Broomsticks, Harry, I could have killed you." he said, shocked.

"But you didn't." Harry replied with a small smile.

"But I could have!" Ron yelled. "I almost did!" he was desperate.

Harry took a step towards him. "Ron, it's okay." he tentatively reached out to place his hand on Ron's shoulder. The redheaded boy was trembling.

"Harry, I…" he mumbled, "Oh, Harry! I thought that you seduced Ginny, but Hermione told me that it was the other way around… I was so foolish…" he pulled his friend into a tight embrace. "Will you ever forgive me?"

"Only if you also forgive me… Brother-in-law." Harry answered.

A huge smile spread on Ron's face. "May I be your best man?"

The two boys went upstairs. They decided to talk to Ginny together. As they entered the Great Hall, Colin Creevey ran up to them.

"Oh, my, Harry, I've been looking for you for ages!" he was panting.

"Why?" Harry raised an eyebrow. Having Colin around never meant anything good.

"Dumb… Dumbledore has arrived… and wants to see you." Creevey said.

Ron and Harry exchanged scared glimpses.

"Okay, thanks, Colin." Harry told the boy. "You may go now."

"I'm happy that I could help you, Harry." Colin beamed and left.

"Whew, pal, I wouldn't be in your place now." Ron stated.

"Thanks for the encouragement." Harry frowned. "What do you think he wants from me?"

"Well, I guess it has something to do with your little romance with Ginny." Ron replied.

"That much is clear for me, too. But what do you think, will he be very angry? Will I be expelled?"

"I wish I knew it." Ron heaved a deep sigh. "Cheer up, Harry, it won't be that terrible! Marrying my sister will be much tougher, I'm sure."

Harry gave him a small smile. "Wish me good luck."

****

A/N2: well, okay, I invented a curse – I thought that if a ghost could be petrified then it could be severed into pieces, too (when the right curse is used). Since Ms. Rowling hasn't written about a spell that is capable of doing such a thing, I had to make it up.

Hope you liked it. And now, REVIEW!


	8. They are everywhere !

Chapter 8 ****

A/N: thanks for all the reviews, people! I'm happy that you liked my little idea about Nick. (I liked it, too :-)

Many of you asked about Millicent causing trouble to Harry – well, I have great plans with her (you'd never guess what those are – so have patience!)

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Juliana Black: you really hate Ron? Hmmm… I like him. (But I like Draco more!)

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fishfreak2000: lol, you wrote: "thanks for writing this story, it is so fun to read!" – I'm glad that you like it so much – later on it'll be even more fun, I promise!

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unknown reviewer: you wrote that my misspellings disturbed you. Sorry, but as you might have read in my author's notes, my native language is NOT English, and I had already apologised for mistakes like that. You wrote the following: "there would probably only be 17 year 7 boys in the whole of Hogwarts, sorry that really annoyed me." You didn't really pay attention, then, because I wrote 17 7-year male GRYFFINDORS! It's pure maths: Rowling said that there were about 1000 students at Hogwarts. 1000/7(the number of years)= 142. 142/4(number of houses)= 35. 35/2=17.5. (I assumed that half of the students were girls.) So I got the number 17. 

All right, enjoy and don't forget to review!

****

Chapter 8

****

They are everywhere!

Harry left Ron and headed for the headmaster's room. On the second floor he turned right and bumped into a stupidly smirking Millicent Bulstrode.

"Oh, sorry, Millicent." he apologised. "I didn't see you were here."

"Never mind, gorgeous." the girl grinned.

*_Gorgeous_? Did she REALLY call me gorgeous?* Harry thought. *She must be out of her mind.*

"Um, well, I've got to go now." he said.

"To Dumbledore, right?" Millicent gave him a huge smile. "Oh, Harry, you must be very worried now! Poor little one!"

*Is she mocking me?* the boy wondered. "No, I'm not _that _worried. I am aware that he might expel me, but I'm ready to face the consequences of my stupidity."

"Oh, you are such a brave hero!" Millicent fell on his neck with all her eighty kilos. 

"Mi…Millicent…" Harry groaned, almost collapsing under her weight. "Thank you for your sympathy, but let me go, please!"

The girl reluctantly released him, sighing. "I don't understand why I haven't realised what a handsome boy you have become… no one in whole England has such beautiful green eyes… and that sexy scar of yours…"

"Huh?" Harry blinked. Now he was sure that Millicent had gone crazy. "Well, thanks, I guess… you are also pretty." he said, lacking a better idea what to say to her.

"_Pretty_?" she flung her arms around his neck again, almost suffocating him. "Oh, my dear, my sweetheart, my beloved Tri-Wizard Champion!" she started to sob.

*Good gracious, what have I done?* Harry's mind froze. This girl was either lunatic, or desperately in love with him. But how could that happen? And why?

Suddenly Mrs. Norris appeared on the corner. Seeing Harry, she let out a terrified mew and scurried in the other direction, as fast as her tiny legs could carry her.

Millicent didn't understand the cat's behaviour, but didn't care for it, either – she carried on hugging poor Harry.

"Listen, Milli, I…"

"No, don't speak, sweetums!" she put a finger on his mouth.

*Holy Snitch, she isn't going to kiss me, is she?* Harry felt nauseous.

"Harry Potter, sir, Professor Dumbledore is waiting for you, sir!" a voice broke the awkward silence.

"I'm coming, Dobby." Harry was eternally grateful to the house-elf for saving him now. He tossed Millicent's arm away and ran after Dobby.

* * * * *

Harry took a deep breath and stepped to Dumbledore's door.

"Um, orange-drop?" he asked the stone gargoyle.

The door didn't budge.

"Pepper flavoured beans? Cockroach-cluster? Chocolate kangaroos?"

The door still didn't open.

*How is Dumbledore expecting me to visit him, if I don't know the password?* he thought, then suddenly heard a creaking sound and the door opened. Out came Hagrid.

"Harry, finally, yeh're here!" he said. "Dumbledore's bin waitin' fer yeh fer ages! Where have yeh bin?"

"I was with Ron." Harry shrugged. "By the way, what's the current password?"

"Banana split." the giant answered. "Hey, go in, don' make him wait!"

"Is he very upset? Is he gonna expel me?"

"Nah, why would he?" Hagrid answered. "Although he isn' too happy with yeh, mate. Yeh were thoughtless, an' Ginny too. But no use cryin' over spilt milk, so… just go in and don' worry! He won' snap yer head off!" and with a grin he left.

*Oh, well, get a grip, Potter.* the boy told himself and entered the room.

At first he didn't see the headmaster anywhere. There was no one there, but Fawkes, the phoenix.

"Hi, Fawkes, how are you?" Harry tried to smile. Maybe speaking to the bird would divert his thoughts from the impending catastrophe. For he had a certain premonition, that a real catastrophe was about to come.

The phoenix flew to him and perched himself on Harry's shoulder.

"Where's Professor Dumbledore?" the boy asked the bird, as if it was capable of answering. "What do you think, will he expel me? I think he'd have all reasons to do so. I've brought shame on the school… and on poor Ginny, too." he sighed. Fawkes snuggled closer to him, trying to encourage him a bit. "Do you think I could stay and be a ground-keeper like Hagrid? Or will Dumbledore think that I'm not worthy of that? Oh, Fawkes, life's so difficult. If I could change the past, I'd do so, to avoid the humiliation that Ginny and Hogwarts have to suffer now… because of me. Whatever happens, promise me that you'll take care of Professor Dumbledore, will you, Fawkes?"

"I don't think I need his protection, Harry." a voice came from behind Harry. He turned around to see a secret door in the wall open and the headmaster come through it. "But you're right, sometimes he can be really useful." the old man smiled, pointing his finger at the phoenix. "At least he provides me company when I'm bored."

"I never thought that you could get bored, sir."

The old wizard's eyes glinted mischievously. "Of course I can get bored sometimes. But that is what pretty scandals like yours are good for: shaking me out of boredom. But have a seat, please."

Harry gulped and sat down. He had no idea how to react on Dumbledore's phrase 'pretty scandals like yours'.

"You are very disappointed with me, aren't you, sir?" he blurted out.

"I should be, of course, I should be, but…" his smiled, "I can't help feeling happy that at least something is happening here. Hogwarts has been an utter boredom lately." he told this in such a nonchalant way, as if talking about weather.

Nonplussed, Harry stammered: "But you are going to expel me, aren't you, sir?"

"No way, Harry." Dumbledore shook his head. "I wouldn't deny you the chance of becoming a full-fledged wizard. You might be one of the bests, and the wizarding world needs you."

Harry felt that a great weight was off his mind. Everything was okay. Just okay.

"What do you plan to do with me then, sir?"

"Nothing, son, nothing." Albus smiled jovially.

"But you'll let me marry Ginny, won't you?"

"Only if you accept me as your best man."

"Well, actually I've already promised Ron…" Harry said.

"Never mind, Harry." Dumbledore grinned, his blue eyes sparkling impishly. Strangely to Harry, he still looked young when smiling like that.

"We will throw a nice wedding party for you two… let's say… at Christmas?"

"Christmas, sir?"

"Yes, imagine, how wonderful it'd be to have a Yule ball combined with a wedding! No student would want to spend the holidays at home this year!"

*Sure, and Malfoy will be around, too.* Harry sighed inwardly, wondering why Dumbledore was so lenient. He expected to get expelled, or at least get a long detention… or a great dressing-down… but nothing like that happened. _Why? _Funny man, Dumbledore.

"Okay, then, I guess we've discussed the main points, Harry, you may go now."

*The main points? What main points?* the boy raised an eyebrow. *We haven't really discussed anything. I guess he was only bored and wanted to talk to someone. Poor old Dumbledore.*

"All right, sir." Harry said and stood up to leave, when a strange noise filled the room, coming from the fireplace.

In the next moment a man and a woman burst out of it, falling on the floor.

"Uh, good flight, bad landing." the man groaned.

"I told you we haven't used Floo-powder often enough, Tim." the woman growled at him, standing up, smoothing the folds of her yellow robe. "Oh, Professor Dumbledore! Nice to meet you!" she stretched out her hand.

The headmaster walked to her and shook her hand. "Nice to meet you too, Miss… I don't even know whom I have the honour of talking to."

"Oh, my, I'm so ill-mannered!" the woman clasped her hands. "I'm Emeline Bacon from _Witch Weekly_. And I'm looking for… oh, _there he is_!" she caught a glimpse of Harry standing before the headmaster's desk. She immediately turned her back on Dumbledore and rushed to the boy. "Harry Potter! Oh, my gosh, you've grown a lot! When I last saw you, you were only three months old! What a handsome young man you've become!" she took the befuddled Harry by the arm, leading him to the window. "Timmie," she turned to her assistant, "make a photo of him! It'll be on the front page!"

Tim started clicking his camera.

"But, Miss Bacon, I…" Harry was speechless. "Professor?" he looked over the journalist's shoulder, looking for the headmaster. Dumbledore was standing about four metres away from them, wearing a furious look on his normally peaceful face.

"Okay, Timmie, enough of the photos!" Emeline instructed the man. "And now, Harry… if I may call you Harry, you'll let me call you by your given name, won't you, so, Harry, I have some questions for you."

"You may have questions, but won't ask them." Albus cut in. "The door is that way, Miss Bacon. Or just go back the way you came here. I place my fireplace at your disposal."

"But Professor, I have to make an interview with Harry, and…"

"No interviews! This is a school, an educational institution, Miss Bacon, so I'm asking you to leave my students in peace! Leave my office, please!"

"Never in my career have I met such a rude person like you, Professor!" Emeline Bacon was offended. "Okay, we'll leave your office, sir. Come, Timmie." she said and left through the door. Tim, the photographer followed suit.

"Rude? Me?" Dumbledore fumed. "These low-down, no-good… oh, I can't stand journalists!"

"I can understand that, professor." Harry replied.

At that instant Dobby burst into the room.

"Professor Dumbledore, sir, _they are everywhere_!" he panted.

"Who?" Albus and Harry asked in unison.

"The nastiest scum of the world, sir: journalists! They have invaded the castle! They've brought thousands of cameras, hundreds of tins of make-up, and a dozen huge crates with colourful lamps, I think… and… tents, sir."

"_Tents_?" Dumbledore raised an eyebrow.

"Yes, sir." Dobby nodded with an anxious expression. "I fear they are planning on settling down here for a while."

"Settling down?" Harry gasped. *No, that can't be true! Are they doing all this because of me? Damn, I really have got Hogwarts into trouble.*

"Professor?" he turned to Albus. "What are we gonna do now?"

"We can do only one thing, Harry." the headmaster sighed. "You have to go home."

"To my godfather?"

"_No, son_."

Harry blanched. Dumbledore couldn't possibly be planning to send him back to the Dursleys, could he?

"Professor, please, not there, anywhere, but not there!" he pleaded, but Albus put a hand on his shoulder, squeezing it to give encouragement.

"I'm sorry, Harry, but it is the only place where the journalists cannot disturb you."

"But… what will be with the school, sir? With my Quidditch team?"

"They'll manage it without you for a while, Harry. There won't be any matches until March."

"You don't want me to stay with the Dursleys until _March_, do you?" Harry looked as white as a sheet.

"Don't think so." Dumbledore smiled. "I'll send you an owl when you can come back. You won't have to stay there long… a couple of weeks, at most."

Harry nodded. "But professor, how am I going to go back? There's no Hogwarts Express now."

"You'll use Floo-powder then."

"I cannot." Harry protested. "Uncle Vernon's fireplace is blocked up."

"You'll go to Mrs. Figg's, then."

"Mrs. Figg?" Harry frowned. "She'd get a heart-attack as soon as someone came out of her fireplace, for sure. She is an old and sickly lady, it wouldn't be proper to risk her health, sir."

"Oh, don't be worried about Arabella Figg, Harry." Albus smiled. "She won't get frightened. Some decades ago many young men travelled in and out of her fireplace… she had been a pretty girl." a dreamy smile appeared on Dumbledore's face. "Very pretty, indeed."

Harry stared at the headmaster, his mouth open in surprise. Was Dumbledore speaking of the same crazy, old, cat-lover Mrs. Figg? How could they know each other? Was she… could she be…?

"Oh, yes, Harry, Arabella Figg is a witch. Concealed it well, didn't she?"

"Um, yeah." the boy nodded. "Do you know her well?"

"And how!" Dumbledore winked. "And now, go Harry."

"Yes, Harry Potter, sir, go and make yourself safe from these lunatic journalists, sir!" Dobby agreed.

"All right." Harry heaved a deep sigh. "Will you take care of Ginny for me?"

"You can count on that." the headmaster nodded, giving Harry a handful of Floo-powder. The boy threw it into the fire, saying: 'Mrs. Figg's house!', and off he went.

* * * * *

Tom Riddle, alias Lord Voldemort, a.k.a. You-Know-Who (or He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named) was sitting in an armchair, playing with an onion. He liked onions and garlic. These were his favourite nourishment, besides blood-tonic, of course.

Suddenly a snake slithered into the room, with an envelope and some newspapers in its mouth.

"Ah, the daily post!" Voldemort said and took the letter and the papers, patting the snake on the head. "Good girl, Nagini, good girl. Fetch, Nagini!" he threw the onion out the window. The snake hurried after it.

"Wormtail!" the Dark Lord yelled.

Peter Pettigrew, also known as Wormtail, entered the room in an apron. "Yeees, my lord?" his voice trembled, just like his silver hand holding a dripping plate. "What is thy bidding? Should I clean the windows? I can stop doing the dishes, my lord, if you wish."

"No, Wormtail, I just wanted you to go to the post-office and pay this bill." he handed Peter the envelope. "I don't want to wake suspicion. If we don't pay the bills of the Riddle-house, some money collectors will be sent here, whom I'll have to kill, you know. I don't want it, though."

"I see, my Lord." Wormtail bowed and backed out with the bill.

Nagini slithered into the room again, with the onion in her mouth.

"Good girl." Voldemort stroked the snake's head. "And now leave me alone. I want to read in peace."

Nagini put her head into his master's lap, trying to catch his attention. 

"I said, out with you!" You-Know-Who shouted. Poor Nagini got close to getting a heart-attack. Her master was somehow even more unbearable today, than usual. She decided to avoid more trouble and left the room. 

Voldemort unfolded the first newspaper, _The Diagon Alley Journal_. 

*Sports column, economic figures,* he read through the pages, *ads, comics… oh, I hate Martin Miggs!… recipe of the week… celebrities…_now wait a minute_!* his red eyes widened. "Harry Potter! A whole page on Harry Potter!" he fumed. "What the hell did that little bastard do again?"

He started to read.

**__**

HARRY POTTER AND THE GREATEST SCANDAL OF HOGWARTS HISTORY

As you, Dear Reader might already have got to know, Harry Potter, the boy, who survived Lord You-Know-Who's death curse at the age of one, has again become the centre of attention - although this time not due to his heroism, but his imprudent act of having impregnated his best friend's sister, Ginny Weasley. 

Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry has never been exposed to such a terrible scandal. My assistants have read through all relevant books, but in vain - no scandal of this magnitude has ever been registered in Great Britain's wizard history. We can state without hesitation, that Harry Potter has given us a field day that we have used as much as possible, in order to sate your curiosity, Esteemed Reader.

Now we are at Hogwarts, where Mr. Potter is studying as a seventh-year student. Our plans of making an interview with him have been thwarted by Professor Dumbledore, the headmaster of the school. We have asked the opinions of some students and teachers about the events, though:

****

Professor Snape, Harry's Potions teacher: " Potter is just like his father. Reckless and stupid."

****

Susan Cunningham, Ms. Weasley's best friend: "Yeah, I had suspected something like that for about three weeks. Ginny was having morning sicknesses. I wasn't sure whether she had a bun in the oven or not, but I had a strong impression that she actually did."

****

Professor Snape: "For me it was no surprise. That boy is rotten to his very core."

****

Ginny Weasley, the future mother of Potter's child: "Harry isn't faulty. It was me, who seduced him. I love him, you know."

****

Draco Malfoy, captain of the Slytherin Quidditch team: "I wasn't surprised at all. That's exactly what you'd expect from Potter. He thinks that he has the right to do anything he wants, just because Dumbledore is favouring him. I wouldn't be surprised at all, if Dumbledore wouldn't expel him… though I think he'd deserve it."

****

Vincent Crabbe, Mr. Malfoy's friend: "Yeah, the same as Draco said. Potter is a ******* (we didn't want to quote Mr. Crabbe's words. We are sure that you will understand that, Precious Reader.)

****

Gregory Goyle, Mr. Malfoy's other friend. "Exactly, Crabbe."

****

Hermione Granger, Mr. Potter's friend: "Harry is a good boy. But he is human, like we all, that's why he made a mistake. Everyone can make mistakes, so no one has the right to condemn him."

****

Professor Snape: "From the first time he set foot on Hogwarts grounds, he has been crossing lines. Sneaking out of the castle in the middle of the night with his no-good fellows, talking back to teachers, going illegally to Hogsmeade, bullying his schoolmates - especially the Slytherins -, helping prisoners escape, always wanting to be the centre of attention - just think of him taking part in the Tri-Wizard Tournament… And now he has managed to corrupt the youngest Weasley, too… a great achievement." he adds sarcastically.

****

Milliencent Bulstrode: "Don't hurt poor Harry, please! He is such a cool guy!" (Mr. Malfoy, Mr. Crabbe and Mr. Goyle exchanging bewildered looks - we have to mention, that Ms. Bulstrode is also a Slytherin.)

****

Ronald Weasley, Mr. Potter's best friend: "At first I was angry with him. But he truly loves my sister, and will marry her. I'll be glad to have him as my brother-in-law, and don't care what the others say, or what you ********** journalists write."

(Thank you, Mr. Weasley.)

****

Sir Nicholas de Mimpsy-Porpington, new member of the Headless Hunt: "I like Harry. He is brave, clever and has always been ready to help anyone, even those, who didn't deserve it. He is generous, and shouldn't be condemned, in my opinion."

And finally, **Professor Snape**: "He has talent for only two things: Quidditch and getting himself into trouble. I say that he would deserve to be expelled."

No comment.

"Potter, Potter, Potter, what a pleasant surprise!" Voldemort whispered, a malicious smile appearing on his disgusting face. He reached for the other paper, _The Hogsmeade Times_, in which he found another detailed article about Harry's little romance with the Weasley girl.

"Nagini!" he yelled. The snake slithered into the room, trembling with fear. She was sure that her master would beat her now, or tie a knot on her just for fun. But Lord You-Know-Who didn't look as if he was about to beat anyone. On the contrary. He looked pleased.

"Come, Nagini. I'm taking you out for a walk." the snake's eyes lit up. She looked like as if she was about to bark and wiggle her tail. (And didn't look a thing like a cow.)

"Yes, Nagini, I'm in a terrific mood now. I've received wonderful news." he took the onion and threw it away. "Fetch, girl!"

****

A/N2: all right, I know that Voldie was totally OoC in this chapter, but I just couldn't resist the temptation of making a bit of ridicule of him. Don't worry, later on he'll be his old, extremely evil self.

I guess you were surprised by Dumbledore's reaction. Please, don't write me flames saying that he was stupid – NO, he wasn't stupid, he had a reason for behaving like that. (It'll be revealed later.)

The eight chapters I've posted so far can be considered as the 'introduction' or 'prologue' to the real story that begins HERE, with Harry leaving Hogwarts. In other words: _magic begins here_.

REVIEW!!!


	9. Back at the Dursleys'

Chapter 9 ****

A/N: Thanks to everyone who reviewed!

I'm happy that you liked Voldie the way I wrote him – truth be told I was kinda afraid that you might send me flames telling that I'm totally off my rocker… *giggles*

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Silverfox: I'm glad that you liked Wormtail as a "housewife" and Nagini as a "dog".

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KobeG: you wrote: "LMAO at the part about Voldemort sending Wormtail to pay his bills… I can honestly say that I have never heard Voldie utter those words in a fic before." Hm… you'll hear the characters say stranger things in the future… so be prepared! :-)

And now, on to the show with the Dursleys! 

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Chapter 9

Back at the Dursleys'

"I had to send him back to his Muggle relatives in order to secure his peace, and that of the school." Dumbledore informed Ginny, Ron and Hermione in his office. "I hope you understand that."

"Of, course, Professor." Hermione nodded. "That mob wouldn't have given him peace, had he stayed here."

"And… when will he be back?" Ginny asked timidly.

"Soon, my little one, soon." Albus gave her an encouraging smile. "I know how you are feeling now. You are confused, scared, and you already miss him, don't you?"

The youngest Weasley blushed. "I don't deny it."

"You'll get him back as soon as we can get rid of this scum and life in the Hogwarts castle goes back to normal."

"And when will that happen, Professor?" Ron asked. Somehow he wasn't too optimistic about the journalists leaving Hogwarts of their own free will.

"Oh, don't worry, Mr. Weasley." Dumbledore chuckled. "I've seen to that they wouldn't want to enjoy our hospitality for a long time. Hagrid is going to help me."

"Oh, if Hagrid is involved, then I'm not worried anymore." Ron sighed. "But what are you planning, sir?"

"Let me not reveal it to you yet." the headmaster smiled, his blue eyes twinkling with eternal youth. Ron, Hermione and Ginny were sure that such a look could mean only one thing: Dumbledore was planning something pretty mischievous.

* * * * *

Harry fell out of the fireplace, his glasses sliding down on his nose, but fortunately not breaking.

"Good that you are coming, boy, would you please give Betty and Wilma those tins of Whiskas over there, on the kitchen table?" Mrs. Figg greeted him, sitting in an armchair, fondling two cats that were wearing pink ribbons around their necks. "You know, my legs aren't the same they used to be twenty years ago." she smiled. 

"Oh, of course, madam." Harry stood up, readjusted his robes. "By the way, you don't look too surprised that I'm here."

"Oh, of course not." the old woman snickered. "I also read the newspapers, Harry boy. I was expecting something like you leaving the school, and knowing Dumbledore, I expected him to send you back to your uncle's. And of course I know that Vernon Dursley has a boarded-up fireplace, so drawing the conclusion, I was the only one to whom you could arrive through the Floo-network." Harry looked at the elderly witch with his mouth agape. Good old crazy Mrs. Figg was smarter then he thought. "Yes, and please pour some milk into the kitties' plates, will you?"

"Oh, sure." Harry entered the kitchen, took the dozes of Whiskas and the bottle of milk and went back into the living room.

He was just about to pour milk into the two pink plates on the floor, as two other cats burst into the living room.

"Out with you, boys!" the old woman yelled at them. "You have already got your dinner, you insatiable tykes!" she turned to Harry. "Please, son, grab them and put them out. Fred and Barney have already had their meals. Now it is Wilma and Betty's turn."

Harry complied, tossing the two male kitties out the door. "How are your other cats, Mrs. Figg?" he asked politely. He didn't remember the old woman ever owning cats named after the Flintstones. They must be new, he thought.

"My… my other kitties…?" Mrs. Figg's eyes filled with tears. "They… oh, so terrible, son! A steamroller came, and…" she buried her face into her hands.

Harry dropped to his knees beside the armchair, placing a hand on the old witch's arm.

"I didn't want to remind you of anything terrible, I'm sorry."

Mrs. Figg looked up, a small smile on her tear-soaked face. "You are a good boy, Harry Potter. A very good boy."

"I don't think so." he sighed, diverting his eyes from the old lady. He felt guilty again. He felt ashamed of having flown from Hogwarts, leaving Ginny behind, exposing her to the journalists' pleasure.

"She'll be all right. Albus is going to look after her." Arabella Figg said.

Harry looked up. "How do you know…"

"Don't worry, I'm not a mind-reader." she giggled. "I just guessed what you could be thinking, young man. And I meant it: Dumbledore won't let her be harmed. The journalists aren't after her… it's you they want. Ginny'll be safe, and will be yours… soon."

A faint smile appeared on Harry's face. "I love her so much, Mrs. Figg. I want to go back to her, never leave her…"

"I understand that, son. But first you have to wait until the scandal has spent itself. Then you'll go back to her."

Harry nodded, and poured milk into two small plates. Wilma and Betty jumped down from the old witch's lap and ran to their plates.

"Um, can I ask something?" the boy turned to Arabella.

"Obviously, you've just done so." she chuckled. 

*Wow, she replied the same as Dumbledore did six years ago.* Harry thought. He was surprised that he still remembered the headmaster's words after such a long time, and he was surprised by the realisation too, that old Mrs. Figg had the same way of thinking as Dumbledore.

"Well, I was just wondering why you named your new cats after the Flintstones."

"Oh, that…" Arabella giggled. "I was contemplating to name them after the Simpsons, but none of my new kitties looked a bit like Homer. That's the story of it."

"I see." Harry grinned and stood up. "I guess I'd better go to Uncle Vernon's. The sooner I get it over with, the better."

The elderly lady nodded. "Good luck, son. You'll need it."

* * * * *

The doorbell of 4. Privet Drive buzzed. 

"Dudley, open the door!" Petunia shouted from upstairs.

"I'm watching Cow and Chicken, mom!" the boy yelled back. "Do it yourself!"

Mrs. Dursley came downstairs. She didn't want to disturb her dear 'little' son's entertainment, now that he was back for the autumn break.

She walked to the door, hearing a loud belch from the TV, then another one following it. Cow must have burped, Dudley trying to imitate it. According to Dudley, no one could belch as well as his favourite cartoon figure.

So, Petunia walked to the door, expecting to see a postman with some bills, or a pizza boy with a great pepperoni-curry pizza. 

She opened the door, let out a small squeal and slammed it shut before the robed visitor. 

"What happened, mom?" Dudley shouted from the living room. Cow and chicken had just ended, but he still didn't want to leave the screen, because Pokemon was about to begin, and after that there would be another episode of Two stupid dogs.

"It's… it's no one, dear…" Petunia mumbled. "Just an impudent beggar, dear, don't worry."

"Who's worried?" Dudley shrugged, reaching out for a new package of chips.

Petunia stumbled into the living room, dropping down next to her son. She was shaking.

"Stop that, mom!" Dudley yelled at her. "Go and be afraid somewhere else. I want to watch Pokemon!"

"Oh, of course, sweetums." Petunia tried to smile, stood up and headed for the kitchen, but stopped at midway. 

*It was Harry… Harry! What the hell could he be doing here right now?* her mind screamed with terror. They hadn't seen their nephew for more than a year, since he moved to live with his godfather, after that Sirius White or who had been spoken innocent. That wretched mass-murderer godfather of his! When they last saw Harry, he told them that he'd never come back, unless he felt like turning them into hairy slugs. 

Petunia shuddered. _Harry was here_! He came back to avenge them for having treated him so badly for fifteen years!

__

The day of reckoning had finally come!

Petunia was close to losing her consciousness.

She headed for the kitchen door, but didn't enter. *What if he blows up the whole house if I don't open the door? He isn't underage anymore, so his use of magic isn't restricted by any wizard law! Oh my gosh, he could even…* "Dudley!" she screamed, running back into the living room, checking whether her dear little boy had been turned into a pig in a wig, or not.

No. Dudley was still there, watching Pokemon. "Go, Pikachu, slash them! Wipe them out, all of them!" he shouted.

Mrs. Dursley put her hands on her chest, heaving a relieved sigh. Her only beloved ickle Dudlicky was unharmed.

But what if… what if Harry Potter was still standing at the door, contemplating which curse to use on them?

"No!" she yelled, making Dudley jump, and ran into the hall.

"Okay, what do you want?" she ripped the door open. "Want to turn us into some vampire bats? Ok, go ahead, enjoy yourself, but never ever forget that without us you wouldn't be still alive!" her eyes were sending murderous fire-bolts at her nephew.

Harry knitted his eyebrows. "What are you talking about, Aunt Petunia?"

"You have come to get revenge, haven't you?" she yelled, so loudly, that even the neighbours started to get interested in the events going on at the Dursleys'.

"What? Oh, my, no!" the boy shook his head. "Actually I'm seeking refuge by you."

"Ref…refuge?" Petunia stammered. "Are you on the run?"

"Well, kind of." he turned red. "But it won't last long, I promise. Only a couple of weeks, and I can go back. Will you let me in?"

The boy must be lying, Petunia thought. He was planning to avenge them, wasn't he? But… what if he decided to give them a last chance – to give them the opportunity to make everything good? What if he wanted to decide whether to turn them into cockroaches or not, after having tried their hospitality once more? What if…?

"Oh, sure!" she forced herself to smile. "Make yourself at home, nephew mine." she took him by the hand, leading him into the hall. "Dudley, come and greet our guest!" she yelled.

"Leave me alone, Pikachu is just flattening everyone and the other pokemons are tearing each other into little pieces!"

"I said come, NOW!" Petunia shouted, her voice peremptory.

"Okaaaay… coming." the fat boy stood up with a furious look on his face. He was about to miss the great massacre at the end, he fumed. He entered the hall, then froze.

"M…mom… this… this is… H…Harry…" he muttered, realising that he couldn't move any part of his body, but his mouth. 

"Yes, dear, your cousin decided to visit us. Isn't is wonderful?" Petunia gave her son a huge smile. "Dudley, go outside and bring Harry's packages!"

"Whaaaat?" the boy asked, his eyes wide.

"Oh, no need for that, aunt, I have no packages." Harry said modestly. "But thanks, anyway. Could I have something for dinner? Like… stale bread?"

"Stale bread? But Harry!" his aunt clasped her hands, shaking her head in disbelief. "You are our guest, dear. You deserve the…" at that moment the doorbell buzzed. She opened the door, to see the pizza-boy standing there. "… greatest pepperoni-curry pizza you have ever seen, Harry, dear."

"Huh?" Dudley looked at his mother. She must have gone crazy. Giving HIS pizza to Harry? He shook his head. This couldn't be possibly happening to him, could it?

About an hour later Harry was already asleep in the smallest bedroom, dreaming of his Ginny: she was wearing a beautiful white gown, that was somehow glittering in the candlelight of Hogwarts' Great Hall. Music was coming from somewhere – it was enchanting, just like Ginny.

Harry smiled into his pillow. He felt happy. Truly happy.

* * * * *

He didn't wake up when the front door opened and a very tired Vernon Dursley came in.

Dudley ran to his father, having the intention of complaining to Dad about his evil mother who dared to give his pizza to Harry. When he opened his mouth to start a complaining tirade, Petunia entered the hall, giving him a '_shut-up-and-go-back-to-watch-the-Great-Humberto-_stare'. Dudley decided that there was no point in crossing his mom, so he left. Strangely he couldn't pay attention to his favourite programme that evening.

"What happened, Petunia?" Vernon asked with an annoyed expression on his plump face. He wasn't used to his wife ever denying anything from their beloved Dudley.

"Come, let's go outside." she took him by the arm and led him into the garden. "You'd better sit down."

Vernon raised his eyebrows. This wasn't Petunia's style to talk to him like that. But he complied, nevertheless.

His wife also sat down on the garden bench.

"Out with it, Petunia!" 

She sighed. "Harry's back, Vernon."

"What?" Mr. Dursley made a face like someone who had just swallowed a salamander.

"He came back… but only for a couple of weeks, he says." Petunia replied. "He had to leave that… that _school_… for a short time."

"Leave it?" Vernon still looked like as if at least four salamanders had been chasing each other in his stomach. "Why?"

"He is… he is on the run." 

"On the run?" Mr. Dursley gaped. "Just what we need now: your damned sister's damned hocus-pocus maniac son, who is fleeing from someone! Did he commit something in that… _school_?"

"I don't know." Petunia shrugged. "I didn't dare ask him. You remember what he told us one and a half year ago before he left with that… godfather of his?"

Vernon's complexion darkened. "He threatened us. He said he might turn us into… salamanders?"

"No, hairy slugs, Vernon, but never mind. He might even turn us into dung beetles, you know… and that is why I decided to be _extremely kind_ to him."

"Extremely… kind…?"

"Yeah…" she sighed. "He might change his mind about this 'an eye for an eye' thing… he might even forgive us, Vernon."

"I don't need his forgiveness, Petunia!" he raised his voice. "That boy is a…" Petunia clamped her hand over her husband's mouth. 

"Yes, he is, but we mustn't forget what he is capable of. So we HAVE TO be nice to him. No matter how hard is it, no matter that we might harm our little Dudlicky, this is the ONLY way to persuade Harry about our good intentions. Do you understand it, Vernon?"

Mr. Dursley nodded. His wife was right. If they didn't want to wake up as earthworms, they had to please their nephew.

"We'll move him into Dudders's room, and Dudley into the smallest bedroom. Is it all right?" he asked his wife.

Petunia nodded. "That is a good start, Vernon. And remember: keep smiling!"

* * * * *

Next morning Harry was awakened by someone knocking on the window. It was Hedwig, with a letter.

He let her in and took the mail.

__

Dearest Harry,

Dumbledore told us that you had to leave. I was sad, but I understand that it was the only chance to save you from the journalists. Imagine, they are still here! They've brought tents, pitched camps and are making interviews with whomever they can. Draco Malfoy has shown a great willingness to denigrate you as frequently as he could. And Snape too, of course. I don't know whether you have read those articles or not, but I guess that you haven't. Your Muggle relatives don't buy Witch Weekly, The Diagon Alley Journal and The Hogsmead Times, do they?

Dumbledore told us that he had already found out something to get rid of the journalists. Hagrid is taking part in the action, but I don't know yet what it will be. 

Imagine, Rita Skeeter has also arrived. She – and all the journalists – were very disappointed when they got to know that you had left. Dumbledore didn't tell them where you'd gone, so don't worry, you are safe.

Yesterday I got a letter from Sirius. He congratulated me on becoming part of your family. He is such a nice man!

Please, answer soon, I want to know how you are doing!

Don't worry, the baby and me are okay.

Love, Your Ginny

P.S. Oh, I almost forgot: Ron and Hermione are going out together! Well, what do you think? I'm happy! We'll create a great family together: Potters, Weasleys and Grangers! Cool, isn't it?

Harry smiled. He took a pen (he left his quills at Hogwarts) and wrote an answer to Ginny and two other letters: one to Ron and another to Hermione.

He was glad that his two best friends had found each other. There had been something about them for a long, long time…

* * * * *

Harry dressed up in his robes and went downstairs. He was prepared for an attack by Uncle Vernon.

But, he thought, if the uncle had wanted to sack him, he would already have done so, wouldn't he?

Well, one could never know Vernon Dursley enough.

As he entered the kitchen, three people jumped up from their seats.

Dudley and aunt Petunia were smiling in a forced way. How very strange.

Harry turned to his uncle, expecting a malicious grin and some words like: "Nice to see you, Harry, the door is that way!"

But nothing like that happened.

Uncle Vernon was wearing a stupid smile, too. "Come, my boy, have a seat." he said with an unctuous voice.

Harry thought he didn't hear well. Uncle Vernon – being _nice_ to him? This must be the end of the world!

"Um, good morning to everyone." Harry muttered and sat down at the very end of the table.

"What are you doing so far away from us, my boy?" Vernon asked. "Come, sit here." he pointed his finger at the head of the table.

"Pardon me?" Harry blinked. He must be still sleeping, and this is just a dream, he told himself.

"From now on, this will be your place at the table, son." the uncle gave him a huge smile.

"Are you feeling well, Uncle Vernon?" Harry asked. "Dudley, pinch me!"

"Oh, I wouldn't dare to!" the blond boy protested.

"The scrambled eggs will get cold if we don't start eating soon." aunt Petunia said. "How many eggs would you like to have, Harry, dear? Three, four?"

Harry closed his eyes. This must be a dream, for sure. Aunt Petunia – asking him if he _wanted to eat_? Nonsense! His aunt had always found pleasure in starving him! What is this sudden conversion?

"Uh, just one, please." he responded. "I don't want Dudley to starve to death because of me!"

"Oh, what a noble heart he has, Vernon!" Petunia started to sob. 

"Um, excuse me, could I ask something?" Harry began.

"Of course, my boy, go ahead!" uncle Vernon nodded.

"Is this… is this 4. Privet Drive? The _real_ 4. Privet Drive? Are you my _real_ aunt, uncle and cousin, or is this just a trick of Voldemort's?"

Vernon and Petunia exchanged confused looks.

"But of course we are the real ones, son!" Mr. Dursley said. "Why are you having doubts?"

"Who's Voldemort?" Dudley cut in.

"Shut up, Dudley!" Vernon and Petunia yelled at their son, who cringed. Never, never in his seventeen years of life had they treated him like this! This was calling out for revenge!

"Well, Voldemort, also called You-Know-Who or He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named, is the evil dark lord who killed my parents." Harry explained. "He was resurrected three years ago, from his father's bones, his servant's flesh and my blood."

"Your… your blood?" Dudley went as white and a sheet.

Harry nodded. "It was terrible. I had to… but why are you interested in it at all? You never used to be interested in my problems."

"But we are, son, we are!" uncle Vernon stated. 

"Yeah, as long as you don't turn us into slugs!" Dudley muttered.

"Shut up, Dudley!" his parents yelled.

*So, that's why they are so kind to me!* Harry thought. *They are afraid. Scared to death…* he smiled inwardly. Maybe this little 'vacation' with the Dursleys won't be that terrible at all.

****

A/N2: I hope you liked it! For me it was eternal fun to be nasty to Dudley! (I have to tell you that so far this was the chapter that I found the most fun writing ;-)

See that pretty box below? Fill it in, please!


	10. The Millicent menace

Chapter 10

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A/N: Thanks for the feedback, people! You can't say this time that I wasn't quick enough – yesterday I posted chapter 9, today I'm posting chapter 10.

Enjoy!

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Chapter 10

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The Millicent Menace

The following days were probably the best ones that Harry had ever spent at Privet Drive. Uncle Vernon, Aunt Petunia and Dudley were ready to do anything for him – though he never asked for anything. (They even tolerated him strolling in the house wearing his school robes). He knew that the sudden kindness of the Dursley family had only one reason: their fear of him. 

For three or four days he found the situation quite amusing. He even wrote to his friends, godfather and fiancee how well he was being treated by his relatives. Ron sent him a reply telling him to use every second of this 'new life' and pay back everything to Dudley – make him work as much as possible, and make him do things as nasty as possible. Ron even sent him a list of his best ideas (his twin brothers added their own thoughts on the list):

__

  * first of all, make him clean the toilet – possibly with his bare hands

  * after that tell him that he smells terrible and send him to wash the car – and himself

  * make him trim the hedge so that it models the Hogwarts castle

  * make him clean your room five times a day

  * don't let him watch TV, but always tell him how terrific the latest episode of Pokemon was so that he becomes green with envy

  * eat wonderful tarts in front of him but don't give him any

  * finally, when he wants to go to bed tell him to stay awake and watch out for the possibly attacking Dementors and journalists

When Harry read the letter he couldn't help but laugh. He felt a great temptation to try the list on his cousin, but eventually his good heart took over the little imp in himself prodding him to annoy Dudley.

He also got a letter from Hermione, telling him not to listen to the Weasley boys, because they were so incredibly infantile. Harry smiled. Good ol' Herms, she always wanted people to be like her: absolutely perfect, and not at all childish. But she always seemed to forget something: that boys mature much later than girls.

His godfather wrote him about his job with Arthur Weasley (they finally managed to catch Lucius Malfoy -– they found a great deal of illegal objects of dark magic in his house). Sirius also presented Buckbeak's regards.

Harry received a mail from Ginny, too. The girl reassured him about her infinite love. She even reported about the new developments in the journalists' case. She wrote that Rita Skeeter was being worse than ever, bullying people and things like that. (_If only Hermione had never set her free! And you know, Harry, I'm sure that it was Draco who first told her about our baby. She couldn't have got to know about it otherwise._)

*Well, of course… Draco. Who else?* Harry mused as he went downstairs for lunch. (Aunt Petunia cooked his favourite meal and made him treacle tart.)

The family was just about to sit down to the table – Harry still possessed the head of the table! – when the doorbell buzzed.

"Dudley, go and open the door!" his mother instructed him.

"Make Harry open it!"

"Don't talk back, Dudley!" Vernon scowled at his son.

"I'll gladly go." Harry interrupted and stood up. 

"Thank you, dear. Such a polite little gentleman!" Petunia cooed as Harry left the kitchen and opened the front door.

"Millicent!" he yelled.

Yes, it was Millicent Bulstrode standing on the _Welcome_ doormat. "Harry!" she shouted, pulling him into a firm embrace. "Oh, I missed you so much! Dumbledore said that you'd come back soon, but I couldn't wait so long, my beloved hero!" she kept squeezing him so tight that he almost choked.

"Thanks for…your visit… Millicent." he mumbled, struggling to peel the girl's arms off himself. It wasn't an easy task.

When he finally managed to get half a metre away from Millicent, a very curious Dudley entered the hall, peering over Harry's shoulders to see who came.

It was a girl… a girl, who… looked just liked him. He was rooted to the spot, his mouth agape, and couldn't utter a single word. He was mesmerised.

"Your cousin?" Millicent asked.

"Uh, yeah." Harry muttered. "Millicent, this is Dudley, Dudley, this is Millicent."

"Hi." the girl said with a wide smile.

"Pleased… pleased to meet you." Dudley stammered.

"Um, don't you want to invite me in, Harry?" Millicent asked.

"Oh, of course." Harry said.

"Feel yourself at home." Dudley added, finally finding his voice again.

"Thank you." Millicent smiled, not giving a glimpse to the fat boy – all her attention belonged to Harry – to Harry's and Dudley's greatest regret.

* * * * *

"So, you are our Harry's friend?" Petunia asked politely after dinner. (Millicent proved to have bigger appetite than Dudley.)

"Well, kind of." the girl grinned sheepishly. "To tell you the truth, Mrs. Dursley, Harry and I had never even cared for each other… until a week ago."

*Why don't you add that I still don't care about you? Why?* Harry sighed inwardly.

"I see." Petunia nodded. "Are you studying in the same class as Harry, Millicent?"

"Nay. He's a Gryffindor, I'm a Slytherin." the girl said matter-of-factly, as if it had been obvious for the Dursleys what the houses of Hogwarts were called.

"He's a what, and you're a what?" Dudley cut in.

"Hogwarts – the _school_, you know – has four houses." Harry explained. "Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Rawenclaw and Slytherin. There's a Sorting Hat that puts the students into the houses at the beginning of their first year."

"Exactly." Millicent nodded. "I wish you were also a Slytherin, Harry!" she sighed.

*You have no idea how close I was to becoming one.* Harry thought. 

"Tell us more about the school!" Petunia pretended to be interested. "We are so curious, aren't we, Vernon?"

"Huh?" her husband asked. Petunia nudged him, not so gently. "Oh, sure." he replied eagerly.

"What do you want to know?" Harry asked. He wasn't used to the Dursleys ever asking him about the school. It had always been a taboo topic at 4. Privet Drive.

"Would you like to hear about Harry's exploits, Mrs. Dursley?" Millicent offered.

Uncle Vernon looked up, an interested expression on his face. "Exploits? What exploits?" he couldn't imagine his bag-of-bones nephew doing anything heroic. In fact the concept of heroism had a totally different meaning for Vernon Dursley than for the average people. He thought that real heroism meant being able to live together with an idiotic nephew who actually had wizard-blood running in his veins.

"What exploits?" Millicent laughed (she looked even uglier than usual). "Well, of course facing and defeating Lord You-Know-Who in first year, saving Ginny Weasley (when she uttered that name she made a disgusted look) from the King of Serpents, winning the Tri-Wizard Tournament as the youngest of the competitors, facing and duelling with Lord You-Know-Who once again and surviving it, helping Sirius Black to defeat He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named once more last year… well, what else?" she mused. "Er, of course he was the youngest Quidditch player of the last century, and the most talented in flying on broomsticks, too… and yeah, he fought and outwitted a Hungarian Horntail dragon, saved Ron and Fleur's sister from the merpeople risking his leading position in the tournament… and, er, yes, I guess, that's all."

Uncle Vernon, Aunt Petunia and Dudley were looking at the girl for about four minutes without speaking, while Harry wished he could disapparateat that very moment. Shame that they hadn't learnt how to do it yet.

"Did you… did you really do these things, Harry?" his cousin was the first to recover his voice. 

"Yeah… but I was never alone. My friends helped a lot."

"Ah, he's just being modest." Millicent grinned. "When he faced the Dark Lord in fourth year, he was alone… well, accompanied only by the dead Cedric Diggory. Right, Harry?"

"Right." the boy sighed. Being lionised by his so-called family was the last thing he needed. Well, the one before the last – because having Millicent Bulstrode flatter him was the VERY last thing he wanted. 

"Yes, Mr. and Mrs. Dursley, your nephew is a real hero!" Millicent sighed, and sneaked an arm around poor Harry. "And he is soooo wonderful!"

*Oh, no!* Harry rolled his eyes.

"YOU are wonderful, Millicent!" Dudley blurted out.

For a second everyone's eyes focused on him. Did they hear it well? Did Dudders – _their _Dudders - call a _girl _wonderful? Impossible.

Petunia shook her head and persuaded herself that she misinterpreted her son's words. Dudley couldn't like a girl, who is _one of those folks_! She shuddered at the thought. Having one hocus-pocusing person in the house was enough… but two were just more than enough!

"Well, Mr. and Mrs. Dursley, I have to go now." Millicent stood up. 

"Thanks God!" Harry sighed.

"Huh?" the girl turned to him.

"Uh, I said what a pity!" Harry corrected himself.

"I know that you wish I could stay, but I just dropped in to see how you were doing. If I stay any longer, my absence at the school will be discovered. I have to go back to Hogwarts."

Harry nodded, his eyes twinkling with glee.

"Um, and how are you going back?" he asked.

"The same way I came." the girl answered. "Through Mrs. Figg's fireplace." at that statement Vernon and Petunia exchanged bewildered looks. //is Mrs. Figg also _one of them_?//

"How do you know about Mrs. Figg?" Harry frowned.

"Oh, I just overheard a discussion between Ginny and Neville, and they mentioned that old hag."

"Don't call her that!" Harry scowled. "She deserves more respect."

"Yeah, yeah, she does." Millicent smiled. "Don't get mad at me, Precious, okay?"

"Wasn't Mrs. Figg surprised to see you come out her fireplace?"

"Just a bit. She said she expected some people wanting to visit you."

"I see. Come, I'll see you out." Harry said.

"And I'll accompany you to Mrs. Figg's house, okay?" Dudley offered.

"Dudley…" Vernon was about to tell him off.

"Let him go, Uncle." Harry smiled. He wanted to get rid of Millicent as soon as possible.

So Dudley and Millicent set off for old Arabella Figg's house, that was only three hundred metres away.

"Um, do you like Pokemon, Millicent?" the boy asked, having no idea what to talk about.

"What?" the girl raised an eyebrow. "Is it some Muggle thing?"

"Oh, never mind." Dudley pressed his lips together. *I screwed up, I screwed up!*

"Oh, well, here we are." Millicent said as they arrived at the gate of Mrs. Figg's garden. "Do you want to come in and watch as I leave? I presume you never have seen anything like that before."

"Well, actually I have." Dudley shrugged. "But why not?"

Before they entered the house, he reached out and took Millicent's hand. "Um, Milli, I have to tell you something…"

"Yeah? What?"

"I… I like you, I guess."

The girl tossed his hand away. "You foolish Muggle! Did you think I'd ever pay you any attention? Silly! There are many reasons why I wouldn't."

"And those are…?" Dudley muttered, turning red.

"First of all: you are ugly and fat! Number two: you can't hold a candle to Harry in any respect! He is slim, handsome, sexy, full of magic, brave, clever, potent…"

"Potent? Whad'ya mean by that?" Dudley made a donkey-like face.

"What?" the girl smirked. "You have no idea why he had to leave the school, do you?"

"No." Dudley shook his head. "Why?"

"Because he knocked up Ginny Weasley and got Hogwarts into a terrible scandal, that's why!"

"Knocked… knocked up?" the boy started to look more like a monkey than a donkey.

"Got her pregnant!" Millicent said. "Are you really so stupid, or just pretending to be?"

"Um… never mind." he tried to smile. "Let's go in, shall we?"

They entered Mrs. Figg's house. The old lady was knitting shoes for her kitties when they arrived. "Leaving so soon, Ms. Bulstrode?" she looked up.

"Yea. Have to." she said and reached out for a small bowl on the mantelpiece and took out a handful of glittering powder.

Dudley watched with greatest interest.

"Bye, Dudley." The girl threw the powder into the fire and said: "Hogwarts!"

In the next second she disappeared.

Mrs. Figg scrutinised Dudley's stupid expression. "Tricky way of travelling, isn't it?"

"What… what is that sparkling thing called?" the boy asked.

"Floo-powder." the old woman said. "You can travel through fireplaces with it. Five hundred years ago it got the first prize at the Trickiest Inventions Contest."

"I see." the boy sighed and was about to leave, when the elderly lady stopped him. 

"You look extremely sad, my boy. What's the problem?"

"What?" Dudley turned back. "I guess I'm in love."

"Oh, a good reason to be sad." Mrs. Figg snickered. "Is this young lady who just left, the lucky one?"

"Lucky? No, Harry is lucky, because she loves him – though I have no idea, why." he shrugged. "Millicent will never like me… she said I was fat and ugly."

*The pot calling the kettle black.* Arabella thought with a smile. "Well, one thing is sure, my boy: Harry doesn't love this girl back. He loves another."

"That Ginny who is preggers with his little bastard?"

"Yes. A very nice girl she is. I hope they'll be very happy together."

Dudley didn't answer. He never hoped that Harry would be happy – and now he wished it even less than anytime before.

But HE intended to be happy. And for the first time in his life he didn't consider videos, mountain bikes and food, food, food as the source of happiness. No.

For the very first time in his life he thought that only love could make him happy. Millicent Bulstrode's love, to be exact.

* * * * *

Dudley didn't go home right away. He went outside, hid behind a tree and waited. He knew that old Mrs. Figg would leave for a short walk – she took a walk every day to stretch out her limbs a bit. 

Now Dudley knew that the old crone was actually a witch. She had to be. It didn't occur to him to ask her about it, but he was positive that the crazy, cat-lover Arabella had to be _one of them_. Otherwise she wouldn't have Floo-powder, would she?

When he saw the elderly woman leave the house – alone, she didn't take any of her cats – Dudley sneaked to the door. To his greatest surprise it wasn't closed. 

*Well, well, well, you old hag, you shouldn't trust the honesty of people _that_ much!* he smirked and entered.

He made his way right to the fireplace. He didn't even see Barney and Fred chasing each other around his ankles.

The possibility to try what he wanted was open for him now. He only had to go to that school, tell Millicent that he wasn't such a blunderer as she believed him to be, and she'd fall into his inviting arms at once. He'd ask her to be his wife (not caring about his parents' opinion about this Muggle-Witch marriage), and come back with her to Privet Drive. It was so easy – in theory.

He took a pinch of sparkling powder, threw it into the flames (not putting out the fire before you leave is very imprudent, isn't it?) and said:

"Hogw… you damned cats!" he wanted to kick Barney for scratching his leg, but didn't have time for that. 

He got sucked into the flames.

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A/N2: REVIEW, PLEASE!!!


	11. Conspiracy

Chapter 11 ****

A/N: Hello, everyone, I'm back with chapter 11 after this long disruption caused by ffnet. (See, Sam, I promised I'd upload the next chapter as soon as I could!)

Thanks to everyone who reviewed!

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Andromeda and _The Firefaery:_ thanks for the compliments on my English!

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Andromeda: hm, you don't like Harry and Ginny being together? Anyway, I'm glad that you like the story. Well, about Sirius… I like him, but he won't be a main character in this fic. (Though he'll have a role, of course – I wouldn't leave him out!)

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Hermione Granger: you asked when Harry was about to go back to Hogwarts. *wicked grin* not telling…

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Cloe: I'm happy that I managed to amuse you! And yeah, I am a typer, so you'll get more of it soon (especially because the story is ready - my mom's still betareading and I'm doing small modifications. But I promise to post as quickly as possible.)

Enjoy and don't forget to drop a review!

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Chapter 11

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Conspiracy

Not much later Dudley fell out of a fireplace, in a pretty dark room. He stood up, checked whether he was still in one piece and looked around.

He must have been in a dungeon or a cellar, because it was creepy and gloomy. He backed away from a fireplace until he felt something poke his shoulder.

"Aaaaarrrrgggghhhh!" he screamed, turning around. It was only a lance in the hand of an old suit of armour. He wiped his forehead and turned right. At that moment he caught a glimpse of a hand lying on a table. But there was no body belonging to it. 

He was close to fainting. 

*Where in hell am I?* he thought. *Is this that famous Hogwarts of theirs?* he was sure that it couldn't be. *Well, no matter what this place is, I'd better get outta here as soon as possible!* he told himself.

He peeked out of the room and saw an empty shop full with the scariest things he had ever seen. Well, this wasn't Hogwarts, for sure.

To his greatest relief there was no shop assistant in sight. He could leave the store without getting noticed.

He tiptoed across the room, to the door. (Imagine Dudley on his tiptoes!) 

As he stepped outside, the first thing he saw was a very narrow passage with an old, rusty plaque on the opposite wall telling that he was in Knockturn Alley. 

He carefully looked around. The place gave him the creeps. On the other side of the passage he saw an old and very ugly witch weighing some rotten flesh on some scales. The smell was terrible, but Dudley couldn't decide whether the witch smelled that bad or the flesh. Maybe both.

He wanted to turn left and bumped into a man carrying a scythe. 

"OOOaaaa!" he screamed and dashed down the alley in the firm belief that the man wanted to scythe him. It didn't matter for him in which direction he raced, he didn't glance at the plaques on the walls, just ran, ran, ran… until he tripped over a fallen broomstick.

He fell with his face down and felt the taste of blood in his mouth. He didn't want to look up, didn't want to see anything. *Leave me alone, leave me alone, all of you, please!* he quivered, burying his face into his pudgy palms, trying to shut out the outer world. At first he didn't even notice when four hands grabbed him and helped him into a standing position. 

"Hey, stop that!" a voice said. "Have you got no shame? A big boy like you sobbing like a four-year-old girl?"

"Don't mock him, George, don't you see how shocked this poor guy is?"

"_Poor guy_?" the other voice laughed. "But Fred, the Dursleys are possibly richer than the Malfoys!"

Hearing the name Dursley, Dudley removed his hands from his face and opened his eyes. The first thing he saw was four eyes scrutinising him. 

"Wow, George, this is really the Dursley boy!" the voice, belonging to the owner of the pair of eyes to the left, yelled.

"Of course it is him!" the other laughed. "Got lost, Diddy? Need some toffees, maybe?"

That was the minute when Dudley realised whom he was facing. The two boys who gave him the Ton-Tongue Toffees three years earlier!

"_No… say it's not you_…" he mumbled, backing away from them.

"Hey, Dudlicky, leaving so soon?" Fred chortled. "We just wanted to share our sweets with you! Not interested?"

But Dudley didn't hear that. He was running as fast as his fat legs could carry him.

"He wasn't interested." George declared.

"Pity." Fred grinned. "He would have liked our new tooth-painting toffees!"

* * * * *

At Care of magical creatures lesson that day Hagrid instructed the Gryffindors and the Slytherins to wash the freshly uncurled Martians in big tubs, because the 'strange' smell of the aliens hadn't disappeared yet. Not that it seemed to have shown the slightest sign of ever disappearing, though. 

"This is rubbish! These repulsive little slimeballs will never smell like roses, no matter how much shower-gel and bath salts we add!" Malfoy declared with the expression of sheer disgust on his pale face. 

Hagrid shook his bushy head in disbelief. He couldn't imagine that someone could feel disgust from these wonderful creatures. "Just continue it, Malfoy."

"Okay, but if any of my other teachers will say that I stink, I'll tell them that it is your fault, because you made me fondle these ugly… ouch!" a self-respecting Martian had just bit Draco's leg. "I'll… I'll tell Father that you are breeding monsters again, Hagrid!" his eyes flared with anger.

"Easy does it, Malfoy!" Ron cut in. "Your father isn't in the position to harm Hagrid – or anyone – anymore, since my dad caught him hiding those illegal dark magic artefacts in your mansion."

"You damned father has a finger in every pie, Weasel, but it won't remain that way forever, I can assure you!"

"Hey, hey, hey!" Hagrid yelled. "As long as I'm the teacher here, no one's allowed ter threaten anyone else, understood? This especially concerns yeh, Malfoy."

Draco's face turned red with fury. "No one has the right to speak to me like that! Do you understand, you over-sized imbecile?!?"

Hagrid stood up. "We don' need yer company here, Malfoy. Yeh're constantly ruinin' my classes – I'm fed up with yeh! Go, and don' yeh ever come ter Care o' magical creatures again!"

"Who the hell wants to come, you foolish, shaggy, no-brain half-giant?" Draco shouted back and run away.

* * * * *

Dudley didn't look back, just ran, ran, ran, until he arrived at the door of a shop called Borgin & Burkes. It seemed strangely familiar to him. 

He slapped his forehead. This was the store he had come out of!

He knew he couldn't waste any time loafing before the shop window. He peered inside, but still didn't see the owner around. He entered, slammed the door shut behind himself and hurried to the fireplace. There was no bowl with Floo-powder on it. 

Dudley got desperate. How could he leave this dreadful place then? 

He looked around, trying to find something – anything - that looked at least a bit like Floo-powder. He opened some boxes, peered under the tables, but didn't find anything he could use. He stepped to a big crate that gave out a funny smell. He opened it and saw the most horrendous mummy one could ever think of. It looked even worse than the Aliens he used to kill in his video games. He slammed the crate shut and pressed his hands on his mouth, trying not to vomit. No such luck. He ran to the closest bucket to spill his guts into it, but stopped when he saw what the bucket contained. 

Floo-powder!

He didn't feel sick anymore.

He took a pinch of the powder, threw it into the flames and said (this time clearly): "Hogwarts!", and off he went.

* * * * *

Draco dropped himself into a chair in the Slytherin common room, fuming. He hated that crazy half-giant! The real problem for him, however, was not Hagrid, but the fact that he had alarmed the press in vain, because Potter managed to flee. Now the whole castle and its park were packed with rampaging scribblers trying to catch students and teachers for interviews. He, Draco, had been more than willing to stain Harry's honour – and Professor Snape, too – but the others got bored with answering Rita's and the other journalists' annoying questions. Hundreds of articles had been published with titles like '_The Potter scandal'_, '_Harry – still honourable?_', '_Shame on Hogwarts_' and '_The coward on the run'_.

But Draco wasn't satisfied, because Potter wasn't there to hear all the abuses – and to hear Draco mock him, too. Because it was Malfoy's greatest dream - to see Potter in shame. 

A rat scurried out from a corner, trying to reach the small hole in the opposite wall. It didn't have time to do so, because a red bolt from Draco's wand hit it. The rat dissolved into a small cloud of yellowish smoke.

Draco smirked. He felt a bit better.

*If only that rat had been Potter!* he sighed and leaned back into an armchair to watch the flames in the fireplace. He wished he could send a nice little conflagration to Privet Drive. It would provide a wonderful front-page story: '_Fire devastating a Muggle family – to our greatest regret the charred remains of a young wizard were also found among the ruins. The Boy Who Lived now died. His memory lives on in our aching hearts_.'

The blond boy's mouth tucked into a smirk. If only he could contribute to Potter's undoing… or to Potter's disappearance…

A funny crackling noise shook him out of his reveries. The noise was coming out of the flames. 

He knew this sound: it meant that someone was coming through the fireplace-network. 

How strange. At Hogwarts no one used Floo-powder. It was one of the house-rules that students weren't allowed to travel by Floo. 

Draco straightened in his armchair, his wand at the ready, waiting for the visitor. 

In the next instant a blonde, very fat guy burst out of the fireplace, falling facedown on the cold stone floor. The boy shook his head, looked up and saw the tip of a wand pointed at him. 

"I didn't commit anything, please, don't kill me!" he shouted.

"Shut up and stand up, you Muggle!" the boy at the other end of the wand said.

"Muggle? How do you know that I'm…?" the fat boy blinked.

"I know all British wizards of your age, fellow. And you don't look like any of them… well, you remind me a bit of Crabbe and Goyle, but even they don't look this stupid."

The newcomer blinked again. "What? Uh, where am I?"

"At Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry." came the answer.

"And who… who are you?"

"That depends on who YOU are, Porky…"

"I'm… Dudley Dursley." the boy offered his pudgy right hand, but Draco didn't take it.

"Dursley?" Malfoy raised an eyebrow. "I know that name… aren't you that asshole cousin of Potters?"

"Yeah, that's me!" Dudley nodded eagerly. "And you?"

"Me?" Draco grinned. "I, am _your best friend in the world."_

* * * * *

Dudley gaped at the other boy. "I don't get it."

Draco gave him a belittling smile. "You are his cousin. He hates you. You hate him… and that's just what I need, pal."

Dudley scraped his head. He still didn't understand it.

"You know, Dudley, before you arrived I was just musing how I could rid the world of your cousin." 

At that statement Dudley's eyes flashed. "Rid the world of Harry?"

"Exactly." Draco nodded. "And you, my friend, could help me."

"Me? How?"

"Easily, Dudlicky." Malfoy smirked. "You are living in the same house as he is, aren't you? This way you can talk to him, enter his room, and even… access the food he eats."

"Do you want me to poison him?" Dudley gave him a disapproving look. "I hate him, but would never kill him. Never."

"Who told you to kill him?" Draco smiled. "We don't need to be _that rude_."

"No?"

"No." Malfoy shook his head. "The solution to our problem is here." he pulled a small vial out of his robe. 

"Why? What's this, if it isn't poison?" Dudley knitted his eyebrows.

"Just some potion that Professor Snape taught us today." 

"I… I don't want to get involved in this." Dudley said. He couldn't believe this guy that the vial didn't contain poison. He didn't want to spend the rest of his life in a cell where there weren't any televisions and he couldn't watch Pokemon. "I didn't come here to harm Harry. I just…"

"Yes? Why have you come then?" Draco looked interested.

"Well, because of Millicent…" Dudley blushed and cast down his eyes.

"Millicent? Bulstrode?" Malfoy didn't dare to trust his ears. Did this porky pig come to see the other porky pig? Well… why not? They made a good match. "How do you know her?"

Dudley blushed even more. "She visited Harry in our house."

"Huh?"

"She came to see Harry because she has a crush on him, I guess."

"What?" Malfoy felt as if he had got his birthday and Christmas presents at once. This was too good to be true. "She is smitten with Potter?"

"'Fraid so."

"And you fell in love with Millicent???" Draco asked with an elated expression.

"Guess so." Dudley shrugged.

"Wonderful!" Draco yelled.

"Wonderful? Are you crazy? She loves _him,_ not _me_!" the fat boy rumbled.

Malfoy didn't answer at once, but his face revealed malicious joy.

"Why… why are ya looking at me like that?" Dudley asked, his voice trembling. The devilish smile on the other boy's face scared him.

"You have to help me, Duddy."

"I told you that I wouldn't!"

"Oh, yes, you will." Malfoy sneered. "Or do you want Potter to get YOUR Millicent? Yes?"

Dudley shook his head.

"Glad to hear. You have to fight for your love, pal. And the only way to gain her is to get rid of your cousin. Understood?" 

"Yea." Dudley gulped. He started to get really nervous and wished that he'd never decided to try the fireplace network. He wished he had never even met Millicent. 

But there was no way to back out now. He loved that girl, and didn't want to lose her – especially not to Harry.

"Okay. Tell me what I have to do."


	12. De-journalisting

Chapter 12 ****

A/N: thanks to everyone who reviewed, especially to _Dreamer45_ (you know, why.)

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Maat: I'm happy that you think the characters stay in character – I really tried my best, and it's good to know that I succeeded. 

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Angelbabe: thanks for your compliments on my English: "…and whoever had a go at you because of your spelling is a dickhead." – I really appreciated this comment ;-) I'm fulfilling your desire to know about the inhabitants of Hogwarts getting rid of the nasty journalists in this chapter. Hope you'll like it.

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Hermione Granger: not all chapters will have Ginny in them, neither will all of them have Harry, Ron and Hermione – but the trio and Ginny will remain the main characters all along, of course.

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Cloe: I REALLY don't mind your reviewing again! Please, DO review as often as you can!

All right, people, have fun!

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Chapter 12

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De-journalisting 

"I hope you know this means war!" Rita Skeeter turned to the other journalists in the middle of a meadow, about ten miles from Hogwarts. "This time Dumbledore has gone too far. Treating sentient beings like this is just unacceptable!"

Emeline Bacon nodded, rearranging her rock after the ten-mile-run. "He threw me out of his office and didn't let Timmie make pictures of Harry!"

"Yeah, and he sent that Bobby or who to loosen the ropes in our tents, and they fell on us while we were sleeping!" a scruffy looking guy, wearing a tent hanging from his waist, added.

"And my camera broke when our tent collapsed on us." a reporter of _The Diagon Alley Journal_ complained.

"But the attack of those Martians was the last straw! I'm going to the Court of Justice!" a high-pitched voice, belonging to the cameraman of _The Hogsmead Times,_ shrieked.

"Oh, shut up, Janson!" Rita yelled. "The Court is full of bunglers, it cannot and will not help us! Not against Dumbledore, that is. We have to help ourselves… and take revenge on that wretched headmaster of Hogwarts!"

"But how are we going to do that, Rita?" Tim, Emeline's photographer, asked.

"We are gonna dig up some stuff from his past, guys." Skeeter grinned. "Even he cannot be as 'white' as his name tells. So, are you ready for another great scandal?"

"We are always ready for that!" the editor of _Witch Weekly_ shouted, her voice full of hopeful anticipation. 

"Okay, then. Let's start collecting information… but be as inconspicuous, as you can. I know it's hard, since we are journalists, but this insult of Dumbledore's calls for blood! _His blood_! So, who's with me?"

"Me!" the whole crowd of journalists cried in unison. Rita gave them all a huge, satisfied smirk.

* * * * *

"Wow, that was terrific!" Parvati yelled admiringly. "I've never seen anyone run this fast!"

"I've always wanted to see freaking journalists! They looked cool!" Seamus Finnigan shouted.

"Did you see Rita Skeeter with her cloak on fire?" laughed Dean.

"My twin brothers will be broken-down when they get to know that they missed such a spectacle!" Ron added.

"And what about that guy who couldn't disentangle himself from his tent and pulled it with himself while running through the park?" Justin Finch-Fletchley chortled.

"Yea, but that was nothing compared to Bacon's underwear!" a Rawenclaw commented. 

"Sure, she didn't have time to dress up!" Lavender was choking with laughter. 

"What do you think, Herms? Wasn't it cool?" Ron turned to his girlfriend.

A smirk appeared on Hermione's usually strict face. "I've never laughed this much. Rita Skeeter looked just liked Professor Snape in first class, when I set his robes on fire."

"I wish Harry could see this!" Ron sighed. "He would have appreciated it very much."

"Yes, he has no idea what he missed." Ginny nodded. "I hope at least he misses me."

Ron put a hand on his little sister's shoulder. "Of course he misses you, sis. But don't worry, he'll be back soon now. The journalists are gone. I'm sure that Dumbledore will send him an owl telling him to come back. He might already have done so. Harry might be with us right tomorrow morning."

Ginny's face lit up with joy. "If only you were right, Ron!"

"Have you ever known me to make a mistake?" her brother grinned.

"Well… I could think of a couple of times, I guess." Ginny giggled. "Let me think… there was that case eleven years ago in the toilet, when you…"

Ron clamped his hand on Ginny's mouth. "I never thought you had such a good memory." he whispered to her, turning crimson. 

"Why? What happened in that toilet?" Hermione asked curiously. 

"Nothing!" Ron snapped. "And you, my little sister, should mind your own business. For example go and eat something. My nephew needs some nourishment."

"Your niece, you mean." Ginny corrected.

"Nephew." Ron replied.

"Niece." Ginny retorted.

"Nep…" Ron was stopped by Hermione's hand on his mouth.

"Enough of blabbering, guys. Ron, I think you haven't written that essay of yours to Professor Trelawney, have you?"

"No, but…"

"Then go and get down to it."

"But that's crazy, Herm, how could I write an essay on my freckles?" Ron whined.

"Easily." his girlfriend answered. "Have a look at yourself in a mirror."

"But how could I know how I'll remove them, for You-Know-Who's sake!" Ron was getting more and more annoyed by the second.

Hermione knitted her eyebrows, clearly thinking.

"But that's easy, brother!" Ginny cut in. "You just have to write that Fred and George will invent a cream with the name… Freckle Vanisher, and you'll use it."

"Not a too interesting idea." Ron remarked. "But lacking a better…"

* * * * *

Harry was sitting in his room – Dudley's ex room (full-comfort) – writing his essay for Professor Trelawney. The following day was the time limit to hand in their essays to the Divination teacher.

Harry had a hard time trying to find out what the heck to write about his manner of death. 

*Well, okay, let's say…*

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Voldemort is standing at the end of Hogwarts' Great Hall, his wand held at the ready, wanting to strike me down with the Avada Kedavra_. I am close to fainting, leaning to a gargoyle-like statue of…_

*um, who? Oh, yeah…*

__

…Professor Snape. (He dies a month before Voldemort attacks the castle, and Professor Dumbledore decides to erect a monument to his memory in the middle of the Great Hall.) So, I am trying to get a grip – to no avail. My scar is hurting beyond imagination, and I'm sure that I'm balancing on the edge of my grave. Voldemort is laughing with a malicious glee, his red eyes glinting with perverse pleasure. His whole serpent-like face contorts into a spitting image of…

*What?…*

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…my cousin, Dudley.

*Maybe I shouldn't write something _that_ terrible…*

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No, it doesn't mean that Voldemort starts to wear a blond wig, or puts on sixty kilos - not at all. I just mean that he looks uglier than anything I have ever seen.

He is cackling, making flipping movements with his wand to threaten me, and finally he ejects a green stream of light that hits me in the stomach. In the meantime, he yells 'Avada Kedavra!_' I am aware that nothing can save me now. There's nothing left between life and death, but the howling laughter of Lord Voldemort. Then everything fades… and I find myself among the clouds…_

*Oh, my, isn't this too silly? Prof. Trelawney will think that I'm so stuck-up that I think I'll go into heaven… oh, well, what else could I write? I'm not going to hell that's for sure. If someone, then Voldie goes there, not me…*

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So, I'm in the clouds, flying upward, up, up, up… then a strange light surrounds me, and I almost get blind. A voice (whispering and loud at once) tells me that I'm home. Suddenly, I catch a glimpse of Lily and James Potter, my parents. I'm really home.

*Okay, finished. Quite crazy, but finished. I'm wondering what Ron writes about his freckles.*

Harry felt a great temptation to add a '_THE END - read and review'_ at the end of his composition, but was sure that the professor wouldn't appreciate it. 

He stood up and stepped to the window. Ron promised him to send him an owl that evening, so he could send his essay to Trelawney.

He didn't have to wait long. Pig arrived only four minutes later with a letter from Ron, and left with Harry's composition. Harry unfolded the paper and with great interest he read Ron's detailed report on the de-journalisting. Harry couldn't help but laugh at the thought of Hagrid's Martians bombarding Rita and her fellows with their extremely smelly spit, that – according to Ron – smelled worse than a dozen skunks put together. 

Harry was just about to go downstairs for dinner when there was a knock on the window. Another owl arrived, carrying a letter with the Hogwarts crest on it.

Harry saw that the poor bird was totally worn-out. It must have been an express-message, he thought. He took the letter then gave the owl some water. While it was drinking, the boy sat down on the bed and started to read.

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Dear Harry,

I have good news for you: the journalists are away. As Ron might already have let you know, Hagrid's new pets, the Martians have reached the age of uncurling, and Hagrid managed to train them how to drive our unwanted guests crazy. I'm sure your friends will report you about the flight of Rita Skeeter and her colleagues. It was a sight.

So, you can return to Hogwarts anytime now. I suggest that you come in the morning – don't disturb poor Mrs. Figg at such a late hour.

See you tomorrow!

Yours sincerely,

Albus Dumbledore

Harry's heart leapt. He could leave the Dursleys! At last! Although the last three days were quite enjoyable, he knew that his so-called family didn't do anything for him of their own free will. They were simply afraid – and Harry didn't want to be swarmed around by people who didn't like him. He hated hypocrisy. 

He was extremely relieved to be able to go back to school – his eagerness to see Ginny made him decide to disturb Mrs. Figg that very evening against Professor Dumbledore's advice. He just couldn't wait to see his fiancee…

For he missed her more than anyone else in the world.

It was not only the prospect of seeing Ginny that made him eager to get back to Hogwarts: he badly needed clean robes, too. Harry reached into his pocket to make sure that he had his wand with himself, then ran out of his room.

* * * * *

As he went downstairs, the first thing he saw was Dudley scrubbing the floor. The fat boy was humming some melody, that in Harry's opinion could either be the Star Wars fanfare or the main theme of Dallas – but he couldn't decide which one, since Dudley was singing totally out of tune.

Harry found it quite strange to hear his cousin hum while doing his chores. (Dudley _having_ chores was strange enough in itself.) Inexplicably to him, Harry had a certain premonition, as if something was about to happen. The thought of himself going back to Hogwarts cheered him up, but there was something in the air… something bad. *That is what you get when you make up stories about your own death.* he scolded himself. 

"Oh, Harry, nice to see you!" Dudley greeted him and put the mop down. "Do you think the kitchen floor is clean enough? Or should I continue?"

"It's perfect, Dudley." Harry replied.

"Oh, come Harry, dear, dinner is ready!" aunt Petunia yelled. "What would you like to eat? I have made fudge pudding and a chocolate tart with strawberries and whipped cream. Which one do you prefer? Both, maybe? Oh yeah, why not? They are both delicious! Come and sit down, sweetums!"

*Sweetums? She has swung to the other extreme.* Harry thought. "Thank you, Aunt Petunia, but I'm not staying for dinner. I'm going back to Hogwarts."

"But dear, I've made all these just for you! You cannot go without tasting them!" she pleaded.

"Ah, all right." Harry sat down, and Petunia put a bowl full of pudding and a plate with a big slice of cake on the table.

"Enjoy your meal!" she beamed.

"And Uncle Vernon?" Harry asked, holding the tart in his left hand, spooning the pudding with his right one.

"He has to stay longer at Grunnings. Some business talk, you know." his aunt answered. 

"I see." Harry nodded and swallowed a big chunk of cake. Dudley followed suit – but he didn't gulp only one chunk at once, but at least three. 

"Oh my, I'm so thirsty." Harry said and stood up to fill the jug with water.

"You don't want to drink _water_, do you? Something that common… Harry, Harry, you deserve something better." Petunia asked and gently pulled him back into his seat. "I'll pour you some Coke, or would you rather have some orange juice?"

"No, thanks. Just water."

"I'll get him a glass of water, mom." Dudley offered.

"Thank you, dear." Petunia gave her son an approving smile. *Dudley has finally understood what we all have to do to make Harry like us and not transform us into dung beetles.*

Dudley stepped to the sink with his back turned on his mom and Harry. He turned on the tap and filled his cousin's glass with water.

__

'…and remember, this potion is only effective when added to clear water. No syrup, no tea, no cocoa, only water. Understood?' Draco's words echoed in Dudley's ears. He reached into his shirt, pulled out a small bottle of translucent liquid and poured it into his cousin's glass. 

*Ready. You'll pay for everything, Harry, and Millicent will be MINE!* he sneered, then returned to the table with the 'manipulated' H2O liquid and waited until Harry drank the whole content of the glass. *Gotcha.*

****

A/N2: yeah, a nasty cliffie. Sorry about it… (oh no, in fact I don't feel sorry, lol. I'm wicked, I know ;-)

Please don't punch the "back" button of your browser without dropping a note!


	13. Oblivion

Chapter 13 ****

A/N: thanks to everyone who reviewed!

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Rangerprincess: you wrote: "… this fic is turning me into a Harry and Ginny supporter… are you happy now?" – OH YES, I'M VERY HAPPY!!! *chuckles madly*

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Heidi: you were right – it IS going to be long. (And I envy you very much that you get to see the HP movie in about two weeks – I'll only get to see it on 13th December – in Hungary we'll have to wait that long for the film. *sigh.* It's not fair!)

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amaia riddle: I'm glad that you find the characters believable. 

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Kibibi: the best? *blushes* thanks.

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Emylyn: why couldn't Muggles use floo powder? I believe it to be something that anyone could do: you just need a nice fireplace and a handful of floo powder. Rowling never wrote that you had to have magic skills to shout "The Burrow!" or "Diagon Alley!" into the flames. IMHO anyone could do that – in the HP world, of course.

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myr_halcyon: you wrote: "why was Dumbledore acting the way he was? Will that resolve or are you just letting it kind of disappear?" – Do you really, really think that I'm letting it disappear??? Of course I'm gonna explain his behaviour (in fact he will explain it in person), but only at the end of the story – so have patience!

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rebeccagrace: a certain charm, huh? I'm happy that you think I've written something "charming".

Okay, on to the show!

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Chapter 13

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Oblivion

"Professor Trelawney?"

"Yes, Ron, dear?" the old Divination teacher turned to him.

"Um, Harry sent me his composition to hand it to you."

"Oh, how thoughtful." Sybill smiled, taking the paper from Ron. "Sit down, please. Everyone, in the remaining part of the lesson study the crystal balls, please. I am going to read through your essays, so I can give them back to you at the end of the lesson. I'm sure you are on tenter-hooks to get to know your grades. So, please, work silently.

Ron sat down to Dean and Seamus, who were playing cards under the table. "May I join?" he asked.

"Sure." Dean grinned. "If you don't mind that we are playing a Muggle game."

"Oh, not at all." Ron whispered. "We cannot play exploding snap in a class. So, would you explain me the rules?"

At the neighbouring table Parvati and Lavender were desperately trying to figure out what the pinkish violet mist in Parvati's crystal could mean. 

"I think it is a good sign, Parvati." Lavender said. "Pink and violet are nice colours."

"Too Barbie-like, aren't they?" 

"Barbie-like? What do you mean?"

"Have you never heard of the Muggle girls' favourite toy, the Barbie doll?" Parvati raised an eyebrow.

"Nope." her friend shrugged. "Should I have? My favourite toy was a four inch-tall vampire doll that told me the exact time in every hour, and his two fangs were shining in the darkness. I liked it so much that I couldn't sleep and didn't feel safe at night without it."

"Uh-oh, I can't imagine myself sleeping with a vampire doll." Parvati shook her head. "But let's continue analysing this mist, shall we?"

While the students were entertaining themselves and each other – this way or that – Trelawney was absorbed in reading their essays. Sometimes she let out small noises that sounded like chuckling, other times they heard her tutting her disapproval.

"Okay, guys, I've won." Dean smirked at Seamus and Ron. The latter mumbled something like '_of course you won, you're Muggle-born_', then looked up to see that the Professor had just taken his essay in the hand.

"Another game?" Seamus asked.

"Sssh! She's reading mine!" Ron whispered, never diverting his eyes from Sybill's face. The professor looked quite indifferent at first, but when she reached the second paragraph, her countenance changed into something indescribable. Confusion and fury mingled on her face, then suddenly she turned red and started to giggle. 

"She likes your composition." Dean remarked with a grin. "Mine wasn't too interesting – I had to write about my future job, and wrote that I'd be football player in West Ham… but I kind of forgot to add that I'd use some magic to boost my team."

The three boys exchanged grins, then turned back to Sybill who just finished Ron's essay (with a rather rosy complexion.)

She reached out for the next one.

"It's Harry's." Ron told his friends.

"And? Is it any good?" Dean asked.

"Do you suppose that I've read it?" Ron knitted his eyebrows, trying to look deeply hurt, but couldn't help bursting out laughing. "And well, you should. 'Course I've read it…" he lowered his voice. "I think poor Harry really had no idea what to write, because he wrote the most incredible story I've ever read. Full of angst, and totally silly. It was cool."

"Well, we'll see what the professor thinks of it." Seamus replied, and they all focused their attention on Trelawney.

The professor wasn't wearing a nice crimson colour anymore. She was as white as a sheet.

__

Voldemort is standing at the end of Hogwarts' Great Hall, his wand held at the ready, wanting to strike me down with the Avada Kedavra_._

She gulped.

__

I am close to fainting, leaning to a gargoyle-like statue of Professor Snape. (He dies a month before Voldemort attacks the castle, and Professor Dumbledore decides to erect a monument to his memory in the middle of the Great Hall.) 

Two huge crocodile tears ran down Trelawney's face. She wiped them with her hands.

__

So, I am trying to get a grip – to no avail. My scar is hurting beyond imagination, and I'm sure that I'm balancing on the edge of my grave. 

The class looked up at once when they heard the professor sob loudly.

__

Voldemort is laughing with a malicious glee, his red eyes glinting with perverse pleasure. His whole serpent-like face contorts into a spitting image of my cousin, Dudley.

A small smile appeared on Sybill's tear-soaked, wrinkled face.

__

No, it doesn't mean that Voldemort starts to wear a blond wig, or puts on sixty kilos - not at all. I just mean that he looks uglier than anything I have ever seen.

He is cackling, making flipping movements with his wand to threaten me, and finally he ejects a green stream of light that hits me in the stomach. In the meantime, he yells 'Avada Kedavra!_' I am aware that nothing can save me now. There's nothing left between life and death, but the howling laugh of Lord Voldemort. Then everything fades… and I find myself among the clouds…_

"Oh, no!" the professor whispered, reaching into her pocket for a handkerchief. 

__

So, I'm in the clouds, flying upward, up, up, up… then a strange light surrounds me, and I almost get blind. A voice (whispering and loud at once) tells me that I'm home. Suddenly, I catch a glimpse of Lily and James Potter, my parents. I'm really home.

By this time Trelawney was truly sobbing, automatically wiping her tears and blowing her nose.

"Are you all right, Professor?" Parvati asked, worried.

"Oh, yes, dear… I'm fine." Sybill's voice trembled. "I… I just have read the most traumatic essay ever."

"Why is it so traumatic, professor?" Lavender cut in.

"Because… oh, so terrible… because it will happen _exactly that way_, my dear. " Trelawney blew her nose again. "I'll give Harry full marks on this… I consider it as my duty to cheer him up a bit before… for the last time, I mean. And really, he deserves it. None of my students has ever described his own future with such exactness."

"What do you mean, professor?" Ron frowned. He was getting annoyed and extremely worried as well. "You don't believe that Harry will die in such a ridiculous way, do you?"

"I am sorry to disappoint you, Mr. Weasley, but I have foreseen everything that Mr. Potter wrote. And you know, if two people have the same vision, it will surely come true. I am terribly sorry, Mr. Weasley, I know that you are going to lose your best friend… but I have told this for several times, don't you remember?"

"Oh, sure." Ron stood up, scowling. "You are referring to the fake Grim and Harry's alleged death in third class. That's utter rubbish!"

"How… dare you query my words, Mr. Weasley?" the teacher stammered. 

"I'm not querying anything, professor, I'm just telling you that you are constantly having false visions and predicting the stupidest things one has ever heard. Remember that you predicted me that I'd impregnate Hermione in sixth class?"

"That was just a slip of the tongue, Mr. Weasley." Trelawney turned red. "I meant Harry impregnating Ginny, in seventh class."

"Oh, just three factors were false: the _who_, the _whom_ and the _when_. Cool." Ron remarked sardonically. "You are an incompetent, annoying amateur who calls herself a professor! Harry won't die, but will marry my sister! And now, if you don't mind, I'm leaving. Hermione was right to quit Divination right in third year. Good-bye. Have a nice, and less-full-of-mistakes future!" he shouted and slammed the trapdoor shut behind himself.

* * * * *

When he opened his eyes, the first thing he caught a glimpse of was a swallow-shaped cloud floating on the sky. He blinked, shadowed his eyes with his hands and tried to look around. At first he found it quite difficult to move his head – it felt somehow heavy. He slowly sat up and felt cold. He was in the middle of a field of wheat, but had no idea how he'd got there. He didn't remember anything from the last twenty-four hours… no, he realised, he didn't remember anything _from before that, _either. He had no memories of his past, his relatives, his friends… couldn't even recall his name. 

*Who am I? Where am I? Why am I here?* he thought desperately, as he rose to his feet. The wheat reached up to his waist and he had difficulty to move forward in it. He turned the spikes aside before himself, making his way out of the wheat-field. 

About one hundred feet from the edge of the field, he saw a tiny hut with a small tractor and a somewhat bigger motor-lorry in front of it. On a shallow hillside sheep were grazing. 

The boy approached the house and saw an old farmer come out of it. He headed directly for the man.

"Good morning, sir!" he greeted the old guy.

"The same to you, son." the farmer smiled. "What wind brings you here?"

The boy shook his head. "I have no idea, sir. Something must have happened to me, since I lost all my memories. I don't know how I got here, I just woke up in the middle of that field." he pointed his index finger at the wheat. "Could you help me, sir?"

"First of all, son, stop calling me sir, will you?" the old man replied. "My name is Sam McDonald, but you may call me Sam."

"Sure, Sam." the young man nodded. "Could you take me to a nearby town, or something? Or could I use your phone?"

"My phone?" the farmer laughed. "I have no phone, young man. And whom would you call if you have no memories at all? You don't remember any of your acquaintances, do you?"

"No, sir, er… Sam." the boy sighed. "If only I remembered… maybe I have an ID card with me, or something!" he slapped his forehead. Of course! Why hadn't it occurred to him before to have a look at his pockets?

He reached into the pocket on his robes. That was when the realisation struck him: what could a boy of his age be doing in robes? This kind of clothing had gone out of fashion about a century earlier!

He didn't find anything in the pocket on the left side. He started to fumble about in his right one, and pulled out a strange looking rod. It was about ten inches long, or even a bit longer. He frowned. What could he be doing with a staff in his pocket? Could he possibly be a conductor in training? Was he holding a baton? Were modern conductors wearing robes at all? He doubted that.

"Nice stick, son." Sam remarked. "Where did you get it? Oh, sorry. Forgot that you forgot everything… By the way, what's your name? Or forgot that, too?"

"'Fraid so, Sam." the boy shivered. It was cold. "What date is today?"

"20th November, 1997. Why?"

"November?" the young man gaped. "How came you still have wheat, then? Didn't you reap it in July?"

"Oh, but I did!" the old man answered. "It just grew out again."

"When?"

"Today morning, I s'pose." Sam shrugged with an '_ask-me-another'-stare_. "If I wasn't sure that there was no such thing like magic, I'd say it had to do something with it." he gave the boy a grin. "You surely think I'm crazy, don't you?"

"Noooo. Not at all." the boy answered, trying not to hurt the farmer, because then Sam might not take him anywhere, and he'd be stuck in the middle of nowhere forever.

"Well, okay, you wanted me to take you to a town, right?" Sam smiled. "I have some business in Great Winging, so I'll take you there. Come on, give me a hand." he waved his hand. "We've got to pack these sheep on my lorry. I'm going to take part in the annual fair of domestic animals. Anyway, I'll have to look for people who'll help me reap the wheat again. I'm too old to do it alone… imagine, it will be a real sensation! Wheat in November!"

The boy nodded, putting a plank on the lorry. The old man drove the herd up onto the plank and into the lorry.

On their way to Great Winging, the boy was totally silent, deeply immersed in his thoughts, while Sam was humming '_Old McDonald had a farm, iya, iya-ooooo'_. The sheep kept bleating behind them.

"You know, son," Sam said suddenly, "I used to own cows and sell them at the fair, but when the mad cow disease struck Great Britain, I decided to change profile and bought a herd of sheep. They have many advantages: they are smaller, need less nourishment and are so cute and fluffy… er, do you know what I've been thinking of?"

"No. How could I know it?" the boy blinked.

"I thought that the wheat growing again had something to do with you sleeping in the field."

"I don't want to offend you, sir, but it's nonsense."

"Nonsense? Maybe…" the farmer smirked. "But one thing is sure: it was freezing in the morning. Had the wheat not grown again around you, you'd have frozen, son."

"Really?" the young man gaped, having no idea what to reply. He had no idea about his past, either. He had no idea that the strange stuff in his pocket happened to be a wand, and that he was actually a wizard. Even less did he know that he was called Harry Potter.

* * * * *

In the town they told farewell to each other, Harry thanked Sam for having brought him back into civilisation, Sam thanked Harry for re-growing the wheat, and their ways parted.

The boy headed directly for the police office. He hoped that the police could identify him somehow. Maybe people had already notified the police about his disappearance. Maybe the police had been looking for him for days, weeks or more, and his desperate relatives might have got red eyes from crying over their terrible loss… how could Harry have known that the Dursleys were celebrating the whole night after having dumped him out of Vernon's car in the middle of nowhere? How could he have known that Dudley got a crimson coloured Ferrari for his 'exploit' of having got rid of Harry? Of course Dudley 'forgot' to mention to his parents that he had made a small visit into the wizarding world. Mr. and Mrs. Dursley were convinced that their very clever little son did everything on his own. It never occurred to them to ask how he had done it – they were interested in only one thing: the result of the action, not in its execution.

So, while the Dursley family painted the town red, Harry entered the police office.

"Uh… hello." he said. There were no policemen in sight. "Hello?"

About three minutes later a rather furious looking guy entered the office, holding a sandwich in his hand. "Whaddaya want?" he grumbled. "I was watchin' Dexter's lab, so be short, cos I wanna see the end. Wouldn't miss Deedee exploding the whole lab."

"Uh, sure." the boy nodded. "Well, a very strange thing happened to me… I lost all my memories, and found myself in the middle of a wheat field this morning."

"Wheat? In November?" the police officer raised his eyebrows. "Are ya kiddin'?'

"No, sir. I don't know how I got there, and I have no idea who I am. Can you help me?"

"Arggh…" the officer groaned. "Another lunatic… okay, kid, that way." he pointed his finger at a door. "Go in there and wait until my colleague comes back from the fair. He wants to buy sheep, ya know. Don't worry, you'll have company: there's another lunatic like ya in there… he also lost his memories." he bit into the sandwich. "We're constantly surrounded by madmen." and with a snort he turned his back on Harry and left to see the end of Dexter's lab.

The boy heaved a deep sigh. *This will be even more difficult than I expected.*

He entered the adjacent room where a blonde guy was sitting with an abnormal grin on his quite handsome face. "Oh, at last, company!" he yelled. "Come, my friend, sit down to us."

"To _us_?" Harry knitted his eyebrows. "I don't see anyone here besides you, sir."

"Oh, just my usual game, you know… I imagine people sitting here with me, and I'm talking to them… not to get bored, you know."

"Sure." Harry rolled his eyes. The police officer must have been right about this guy: he really seemed to be out of his mind.

Harry sat down to the table, hoping that he'd be able to avoid chatting with this madman. No such luck. As he started to fumble with his 'stick', the other man's eyes suddenly lit up. "_You are also one!"_

"Huh?" the boy was startled. "One what?"

The blonde man sat somewhat closer to him, looking carefully around, as if making sure that no one else heard them, then whispered: "A _wizard_."

"A what?" Harry frowned. This guy was really lunatic. Then his eyes wandered down to his hands that were still holding the rod. "Oh, I see… you think this is a wand, right?" he grinned. What a ridiculous idea!

"This IS a wand." the other man pointed at Harry's staff. "I recognise it if I see one, believe me."

"Why? Are you _also_ a… wizard?" the boy stifled a guffaw.

"Exactly." the man nodded his blonde head. "Shame that I don't remember how I became one."

Harry raised an eyebrow. "Don't remember?"

"Yeah… quite awkward story… I have selective amnesia."

"Selective amnesia? What does it mean?"

"Sometimes I remember things, sometimes I don't. To my greatest regret always when I manage to recall something, I usually forget it not much later, so I don't remember what I recalled. Later I forget that I remembered anything at all."

"I don't understand." the boy shook his head. The guy was getting on his nerves. "If you forget things that you sometimes remember of, how have you um, realised, that you are a… magician? Didn't you forget that, too?"

"Oh, yes, sometimes I forget it, sometimes I remember it again… at the moment I'm in the remembering stage of my selective amnesia. I clearly remember that I'm a wizard, but I have no idea what my name is, where I came from, who my relatives are, what my job is… sad, isn't it?"

"Sad." Harry nodded. He also knew what it meant to lose all his memories. He tried to think of something to console the lunatic, when the other guy abruptly slapped his forehead and yelled: "Another memory has just come back!"

"What memory?"

"My… my name! I remember my name! Quick, get me a piece of paper and a pen. I have to write it down before I forget it again!"

Harry ran into the office, grabbed the first piece of paper he caught a glimpse of and hurried back into the room. "Here. Paper and pen."

The blonde guy ripped the paper out of his hand and jotted down two words. "There…" he stood up, shaking Harry's hand fervently, then hugging him so close that he almost choked. "Thank you, my dear friend. From now on, I am in your debt." a sudden shake of sobs stifled his voice, and he buried his face into Harry's shoulder. Harry knew that the madman was crying for joy. He looked over the man's shoulders, on the table, to see the name he'd written down: _Gilderoy Lockhart._

****

A/N2: sorry for repeating Harry's composition – I hope I didn't bore you to death. I just felt I needed to show Sybill's reaction to it.

All right, now be a responsive reader and drop a line. If you'll be nice, folks, (and send lots of reviews), I'll be nice too – and upload chapter 14 right on Friday. (Never think I'm blackmailing you, lol… I just want feedback!)


	14. Adressee unknown

Chapter 14 ****

A/N: Thanks to everyone who reviewed! I'm glad that you liked my idea of including Gildy… I love that guy! He belongs to my fav characters, so just couldn't leave him out!

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chocolate candy: you asked how long the story would be. Well, quite long… lots of things will happen before it ends.

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pugsie1267: you can't wait until Harry meets his child? Sorry to say that, but you'll HAVE TO wait a "bit" for that.

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star queen: you'll see a bit more of Sirius, just be patient!

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rangerprincess: you want to see Ginny screaming at Harry when she has morning sickness? Sorry, can't promise that. I don't want to write a whining Ginny… About Harry going back to Hogwarts… well, I can't promise that, either – but trust me to write really interesting adventures for our beloved wizard boy!

Enjoy and don't forget to review!

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Chapter 14

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Addressee unknown

It was already noon when another police officer (a rather tall and stout one) deigned to pay some attention to Harry and Gilderoy. 

"Hello, I'm Officer Thomson. So, what's the problem?" he turned to the boy, combing his beard with his fingers. "I know what _his_ problem is…" he pointed at the blonde man, "but what's yours? Jim told me that you are also amnesiac. Is that true?"

"Unfortunately yes, sir." Harry nodded. "That's why I'm here. Maybe you could help me… has anyone in the last few days been looking for someone who looks like me?"

The officer seized him up a bit: 180 centimetres tall, jet-black hair, green eyes and silly glasses. "Sorry, kid, but no one has reported about a missing boy with your looks."

"Then what can I do now?" Harry asked. "Whom should I ask?"

"Um, maybe we could make an announcement in the local paper showing your picture. Someone might recognise you. But that's all we can do."

"And what about my friend?" Harry pointed at Lockhart, who was humming some idiotic song – clearly had lost his memories again. "Does it help that we know his name?"

"Know his name?" the officer knitted his bushy eyebrows. "Why hasn't he told us yet then? He could have spared us and himself a lot of worry and trouble…" he leaned closer to Harry "…and you know… he is eating too much. It wasn't a pleasure for us to feed him for a whole week."

*I wouldn't think that he eats more than you.* the boy thought. "He hadn't remembered his name till this morning, sir." he assured the officer. "The recognition struck him at 9:36 a.m., if my memory serves me well. He made me get him a paper, so he could write it down. His name is Gilderoy Lockhart."

"Gilderoy Lockhart? What an unusual name." the officer frowned. "Come, kid, we shall have a look at Mr. Lockhart's files in the national police archives."

"Should I tell him to come with us?" 

The officer looked at the blonde lunatic who was still humming a stupid song about the birds and the bees. "Nay. We'll be better off without him."

They entered a small room where the officer sat down before a computer and logged into the police archives. "What Lockhart?" he turned to the boy.

"Gilderoy."

"Uh-huh." the police officer nodded and typed the name into the browser. The program gave him a 'not found' notice. He re-typed the name, supposing that his pudgy fingers must have slipped when typing for the first time. They hadn't. He again received a 'not found' signal. Then he tried an international database, but no archives of the whole world contained the name of a certain Gilderoy Lockhart. "Well, kid," he turned to Harry "this friend of yours either remembered a false name, or he doesn't exist at all. Sorry, we cannot help. Maybe we should send that madman to some lunatic asylum where he'd receive treatment and might regain his memories. I suggest that you two stay here for another couple of days to see whether anyone recognises you in the newspaper. Then we'll decide what to do."

"Thank you, sir." Harry nodded. "Can I help you while I'm staying here? I don't want to be a parasite. I am ready to work."

The officer looked surprised. No one who had ever asked for their help had ever offered to compensate them. A small smile appeared at the corner of his mouth. He started to like this boy and wanted to help him more than he'd ever wanted to help anyone.

* * * * *

"Why have you sent for us, Professor?" Hermione asked. She, Ron and Ginny had been told to visit Dumbledore in his room but not to mention their visit to anyone. Hermione had found it incredibly suspicious. She had a feeling that something was wrong.

Terribly wrong.

"Sit down, all of you, please." Albus tried to smile at them, but didn't manage. Something must have been worrying him very much.

"What happened, Professor?" Ginny asked, her face as white as a sheet. Her heart somehow suggested that Dumbledore wanted to tell them something about her Harry – something depressing, scaring or the like.

"I am sorry to tell you bad news, kids." the headmaster said sullenly. "As you all know the journalists are away, so I sent an owl to Harry saying that he can come back this morning. However, he never turned up today, and it's already 20:00. I thought that the owl must have forgot the way to Privet Drive, so I sent another, too. It returned with the letter because he couldn't find Harry at the Dursleys. Of course, all owls have to find the addressee, wherever they are, but our Harry couldn't be found."

"Why, sir?" Ron frowned. He couldn't imagine why an owl wouldn't find his friend. "What happened to him?"

"We can only guess, Ron." Dumbledore replied. "There are some very tricky charms that make it impossible for the owls to find someone who is affected by them."

"What charms?" Hermione and Ginny asked in unison.

"There are several, I'm afraid." the headmaster shook his head. "Some are performed with wands, others take effect through poisons, again others only affect when combined with curses. We don't know whether one of them is affecting Harry or he is…"

"Or he is…?" Ron raised his eyebrows.

"…dead." Dumbledore sighed. "I'm sorry, kids, but it is also a possibility. Owls never find dead people, you know." 

"_He isn't dead_!" Ginny jumped up from her seat. "He can't be dead, professor! I'd feel it… feel it in my heart! Harry is alive and will come back to me!" her eyes filled with desperate tears. "He'll come back…" she burst out crying. Hermione stood up and embraced her.

"Take Ms. Weasley back to her dormitory, Ms. Granger." Albus said.

Hermione nodded and left the room with the other girl.

"Sir?" 

"Yes, Ron?"

"He isn't dead, is he? You'd know if he were dead, wouldn't you?"

Dumbledore heaved a deep sigh. "No, Ron, I wouldn't. I'm just a crazy old sorcerer who can't tell the future and can't see other places and people in visions. I don't have an Inner Eye, like Professor Trelawney."

Ron let out a groan. "Please, Professor, never again mention that old fraud to me, 'cause I'll freak out."

Dumbledore looked amused by Ron's remark. Another student who realised what useless a teacher Sybill was. "Okay, Mr. Weasley, I promise not to mention Professor Trelawney again, if you also promise to keep our discussion a secret and help your sister through this crisis. The loss of Harry is distressing all of us, but no one will suffer as much as her. Should we never find Harry alive, she'll have to bring up that poor child alone." in thought he added: *If at all.*

"She'll never be alone, sir." Ron replied. "I'll be there for her as a loving uncle. I don't think that any child in England could have as many loving uncles as Ginny's baby."

"True." Albus gave him a faint smile. "But not ever six uncles can substitute for a father… and Harry would have been a terrific father… maybe he'd even be one, sometime… we can never know what the future has in store for us."

"We'll find Harry, sir." Ron answered. "I'll never give up hope. Neither will Ginny."

The headmaster nodded seriously. "Hope is all that is left for us."

* * * * *

Draco was walking down a deserted corridor when he met Hermione and the sobbing Ginny.

"What happened to you, Weasley? Has your father lost that ramshackle house of yours, too? Is the family going to move into a dog-kennel?" Malfoy asked with a malicious grin.

"Beat it, Malfoy!" Hermione retorted and led her friend upstairs.

"Hey, Weasel, I can get your father a new job in the MGM!"

Ginny, no matter how worn she was, turned back to him with an interested look on her tear-soaked face. Hermione also got curious. "MGM? You mean Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer?"

"Huh?" Draco raised an eyebrow. "No idea what you are talking about, Granger. I meant MGM, the Magical Garbage Men." he smirked at Ginny. "Your father would be an excellent member of the dustman brigade. And your mother could work for mine, washing socks..."

That was the last straw for Ginny. She jumped down from the fifth stair and lunged at Malfoy, pummeling him with her tiny – but quite hard – fists. "This for mocking my mother… that for making ridicule of my father… and this for always decrying my whole family!" she yelled, her fists falling thick and fast on Draco. The boy was so shocked by the sudden fit of fury that he didn't even try to defend himself at first. When he realised that the youngest Weasley was going to beat the crap out of him if he didn't do something, he tossed Ginny away and grabbed his wand to strike down on her with a spell – but Hermione was quicker.

"_Locomotor Mortis_!" she shouted and Draco fell on the floor, his legs and arms bound together.

That was when Ginny realised what she had done. She looked down on Malfoy, gasping for breath, rearranging her dishevelled hair. "Thanks, Herm." she mumbled finally.

"You are always welcome." the other girl smiled at her. "Especially when Draco is concerned." they exchanged wicked grins and burst out laughing.

"You'll pay for this, Granger!" Malfoy cried. "And you, Weasel, shouldn't do such hard exercises, or you'll lose your little bastard!"

"_Bastard_?" Ginny hissed and was about to run back to the lying Draco and kick him, but Hermione caught her robes and held her back. 

"Hey, he isn't worth the trouble. And you've given him enough for today, I think."

Ginny's lips tucked into a smirk. "You are right. Good night, Malfoy. Hope that someone will find you here before Peeves arrives for his usual nocturnal haunt… imagine what he could do to defenceless students!"

The girls saw Draco's lips tremble. "You aren't going to leave me here, exposed to his tricks, are you?"

"Um, what do you think, Ginny, should we help him?" Hermione pretended to look worried. "Poor Draco, he'll be hung from the ceiling, or… well, Peevsie is really creative… so, should we help him or just leave him here?"

"Let's have a show of hands!" Ginny suggested. "Those who think we should leave him here, put up their hands!" her hand shot into the air.

Hermione contemplated her choice for a minute or so, just to set Draco's nerves on edge. She looked down on the boy, then back at Ginny. "Okay." she put her hand up. "It seems that Malfoy cannot raise his hand in his present condition. But who cares? Even if he'd do so, we'd still have qualified majority. Sorry, Draco…" she grinned. "Give our best regards to Peeves."

And with that the two girls turned on their heels and went upstairs.

* * * * *

Dumbledore was having a nice dream about some new, fluffy earmuffs, when Professor Snape burst into his room.

"What happened?" Albus blinked and stifled a yawn. "Severus, what are you doing here at…" he looked at the clock on his bedside table, "…five o' clock? Couldn't you sleep?"

"No, Dumbledore, it's something else." Snape growled. 

The headmaster saw the fury on the Potions teacher's face. "What happened for all Dementors' sake? Out with it, Severus!" he sat up and re-adjusted his night-cap that had a big, blue pompon hanging from it.

"Peeves, sir!" Snape said – or rather shouted. 

Dumbledore let out a great sigh. "What has he done again?"

"He… he painted Draco Malfoy!"

"Painted?" Albus looked amused. "I didn't know he had it in him."

"What?" Snape got confused.

"The artistic sense." Dumbledore replied. "Where did he paint him? On the wall of the Great Hall, maybe?"

"No, you haven't understood me, sir!" Snape was shaking with rage. "Peeves _painted_ Draco. In the other sense of the word."

The headmaster reached out for his half-moon spectacles and put them on to see Snape's expression clearer. "Painted him? Could I have a look at it?"

"Um, I've hidden Malfoy, because I couldn't remove the paint from his body. He looks terrible. That Peeves is a Barbarian."

"Now you've really made me interested." Dumbledore jumped out of his bed, his clothes hopped onto him and his toothbrush flew directly into his mouth. "I'll… be… reaaaady… soooon." he mumbled while the toothbrush was working in his mouth. He bent down to tie his shoelaces, then cast a last glance into his mirror, and said: "Presentable. Show the way, Severus."

Snape led Albus down into the dungeons where he'd hidden Draco to prevent him from becoming the 'centre of attention'. 

Severus opened the door of his own chamber and let Dumbledore in. At first the headmaster didn't see anything in the dimly-lit room, but soon he caught a glimpse of a slightly quivering form in a corner.

"Come here, Malfoy. It's just Professor Dumbledore. He's here to help you." Snape said.

*To help him?* Albus thought. *Yeah, that too… but first of all to have a bit of fun.*

Draco stepped out of the corner, into the circle of candlelight.

Dumbledore clasped his hands in surprise. He'd expected something 'interesting', but not _this._ Peeves' artistic style reminded him of that of a great Muggle painter, Picasso.

Draco's blonde hair didn't show a sign of being blonde – it had blue and purple stripes in it instead. His usually pale face had Indian battle face-paint on it – depicting a snail, a hare and two orangutangs. His black robes were covered with pink and lilac flowers and tiny suns that had eyes, sunglasses and a laughing mouth.

"Now, what do you say?" Snape turned to Dumbledore.

"Oh, quite nice." Albus replied.

"_Nice???"_ Snape and Draco yelled in chorus.

"Um, I mean… terrible, but you know, son, you could use some colour sometimes… your are always so pale as if you were ill." the headmaster smiled. "But of course I'll do everything in my power to rid you of this cheerful 'costume'… are you sure you don't want to stay that way for a while? You could bring some colour into the school's dull life." seeing the dumbfounded looks on Malfoy's and Snape's faces, Dumbledore added: "Your answer is no, right? Pity, pity…"

"I don't think that the school's life could be called dull, anyway." Severus commented. "The Potter case made it everything but dull."

"Oh, yeah… the Potter case… a difficult one, Severus. The boy is lost."

"Lost?" Snape raised his eyebrows, barely being able to suppress a huge smile of glee. Draco didn't even try to hide his smirk.

"Yes. And not even the owls can find him. I just don't know what we could do." Albus shook his head. "Do you have any ideas?"

"No… not yet, anyway. But I'll think of something, I promise." Snape replied. *Under normal circumstances I'd certainly think of something to keep Potter away from the school forever… but given that pregnancy… and everything that ensues when the child is born…* he heaved a sigh. *…like it or not, Potter has to be found.*

"Okay." Dumbledore turned to Draco. "But now, let's see to your problem, son."

* * * * *

Harry was sweeping the floor of the cell when Officer Thomson entered with a sullen expression. The boy looked up and propped the broom to the wall. "What happened, John?" he asked. The officer and he had become friends during the previous week when Harry was staying at the Police Station of Great Winging. Thomson promised him to make an inquiry in the local paper, whether someone knew Harry and the blonde guy. The newspaper, the _Wings of Winging _even published the two unfortunate amnesiacs' photos, but up till now no one managed to recognise either Harry or Gilderoy as their relatives or neighbours, or the like.

When John Thomson entered the cell and saw the boy sweeping the floor, a strange thought came to his mind: the boy was holding the broom in a totally funny way, as if he had been used to using it for something else than sweeping. _Something else?_ But what??? John shook his head. He was imagining things – the boy clearly didn't understand anything about brooms - that's all.

"Well, kid, I'm sorry, but a whole week has passed since we put that article into the _Wings of Winging_, and there's still no result."

"Does it mean that Gilderoy and I have to leave?" Harry asked. He knew that John's morose countenance could only mean that.

"I'm sorry, kiddo. Really. I've grown to like you. You are diligent, clever, and nice to talk to. You have a way with people…"

Harry knew what John wanted to say: _"…and I'll miss you, my friend, but we cannot keep you here forever. Sorry_". He put his hand on Officer Thomson's shoulder. "Hey, it's okay, John. Don't blame yourself, it's not your fault. You really have done everything in your power to help us, and for that I'm eternally thankful to you."

A small drop of tear coursed down on John's chubby cheek. "Oh, kid, I'll miss you so much!" he pulled Harry into a bear-like hug, almost breaking Harry's bones with his outburst. Inexplicably to the boy, he had a certain feeling that he'd known someone before who had behaved and even looked a bit like John. He just couldn't remember who it was.

When Harry returned to the temporary 'bedroom' they were using in the Police Station, he saw Lockhart deeply immersed in reading a paper. It wasn't the _Wings of Winging_, it was an older copy of the _Newsweek_. 

"Something interesting, Gilderoy?" he sat down next to the blonde guy.

"Excuse me? Gilderoy? Who's Gilderoy?" Lockhart gave him a confused stare.

*Arggh, another stage of his amnesia.* Harry rolled his eyes. "Listen, Gilderoy is your name. Don't you remember?"

"Nay. Do I really have such a ludicrous name?" Lockhart frowned. "And who are you?"

Harry heaved a deep sigh. It was already the sixteenth time during the week that he had to explain Gilderoy everything from the beginning. It was pretty much getting on his nerves.

"Listen, my friend. I'm your fellow sufferer in amnesia. But our sorts of amnesia are very different. Mine is a permanent one, but I remember everything from the time I lost my memories. It was a week ago. You have something totally different. You sometimes remember things, then forget them again, and you always remember different things. A week ago you remembered your name for two minutes, and you wrote it down. Then you seemed to recall something about your job, but I think that it was only your imagination."

"Why, what did I recall?"

"You were in the firm belief that you were a sorcerer." Harry shrugged. "You saw this staff of mine," he pulled out the rod from his pocket, "and you said that I was also a magician, and this was a wand."

Harry couldn't explain to Gilderoy why he hadn't got rid of the 'wand' since then. He had a thousand chances to throw it away, but he just couldn't bring himself to do it – and had no idea why.

Lockhart raised a finely shaped eyebrow. "You are still doubting it, aren't you?" an unaccustomed light was sparkling in his eyes. Harry supposed that the blonde guy must just have been struck by a new memory.

"Of course I am." he replied. "That's crazy… totally absurd, Gilderoy."

"You are talking just like the Muggles." he said with a hint of pity and disdain in his voice.

"Like the who?" Harry blinked.

"Huh?" Lockhart shuddered, and put on an idiotic face. His memories were gone once again.

"Nothing." the boy sighed. He decided not to explain Gilderoy the whole story once more. Next day, maybe – when they'd leave the office, but surely not now.

Harry lied down to have some sleep – very possibly the last good night's sleep for a long time – when his companion let out a small cry.

*Oh, no, what has he remembered again?* the boy groaned inwardly. "What happened, Gilderoy?"

"I've found it, I've found it!" the man kept yelling.

"Found what?" Harry yawned.

"The solution! Look at this!" he handed the _Newsweek_ to the boy. The weekly was open on the seventh page, where a big article about Egypt could be seen.

"What solution?" Harry asked, looking at the pyramids. The picture seemed a bit familiar, but he couldn't remember seeing the Weasley family before the same pyramids four years earlier. "Have you finally remembered that you used to be a camel drover in Egypt?"

Lockhart fervently shook his head, his blonde locks flitting in the air. "I've just remembered that I knew an old man called Abysmal-sun Amun there… write down his name, right now!"

Harry jotted it down, though he couldn't understand why Gilderoy needed the name of an Egyptian guy. "And?" he asked.

"And? Well, he is one of the greatest African wizards, kid! He knows the ways to give back the memories of people who lost them! We have to go to him!"

*Oh, not again this crazy wizard-thing!* Harry sighed. "Go to Egypt?"

Lockhart nodded. "Exactly. Go the Egypt."

****

A/N2: see… Harry isn't going back to Hogwarts yet, but will have really extreme adventures!

Review, please!


	15. Snape's greatest dream

Chapter 15 ****

A/N: thanks for all the reviews, people! You're great readers :-)

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Vanilla: this chapter takes place at the end of November, so Ginny is about two months pregnant. Way to go until the baby is born! (But I'll include it into the fic, of course.)

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Hermione Gulliver: I'm glad that you find my story full of twists and turns… I tried my best – and more twists and turns are to come!

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Kaitlin: sure, it will be revealed that Draco was the culprit. Not yet, though.

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rangerprincess: I also thought that they were "bad teenagers", but it was fun for me to write them the way I did. *naughty me* 

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Tayla Riddle: you'll get more of Ginny's POV, some Sirius and lots of stuff about Dumbledore (Albus is one of my favourites). I understand that you might think that sometimes the story gets boring, but hey, not even Rowling had action on all pages! There need to be transition periods to let the plot evolve… you need to know that everything I write (even if it isn't always action-packed) leads to something BIG at the end. So be patient with me, okay?

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sharliestar: you are right about the Prefects Bathroom: it was sickeningly mushy. I am not a romantic type at all, and don't like writing too fluffy stuff. It was my mother's fault that chapter 3 (the bathroom scene) got so sappy… she said I needed to show more of Harry's and Ginny's emotions, so I did. Blame my mother! (LOL, no, she is really sweet.)

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Juliana Black: I'm happy to see you back among my reviewers! I kinda though that you got angry with me about making Draco such a really bad guy… but apparently you didn't get too mad :-) And you know, I just wrote him the way he usually is… evil. (But I love him being evil!!! Draco rocks!)

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Waldomier: ((you're Cloe, aren't you?)) yeah, I'd also go to Egypt *sigh* that's why I'm sending Harry there… if I cannot go, at least he'll have fun there. And of course Harry will see Ginny again – although not yet, not yet…

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Isis: sure, I watched The Mummy, and liked it. It inspired me a lot (you'll see, how.) And truth be told I was also thinking about becoming an egyptologist when I was younger. Egypt is a really interesting land… so full of magic…

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myr_halcyon: they won't run into Bill, since Bill isn't working in Egypt anymore (in my story, at least…) But other interesting things will happen to them there, just have patience! (Anyway, they only get into Egypt in chapter 17.)

Okay, let's move on to the story! Enjoy… and review!

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Chapter 15

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Snape's greatest dream

Despite Snape's efforts to conceal the shame Draco had suffered from the astral hands of Peeves, by noon every single student of Hogwarts knew about the previous night's events – thanks to Crabbe, who accidentally tripped over the curb of the Great Hall, grabbing Draco' hat to stop himself falling. He fell, nevertheless, and so did Draco's hat, – revealing his locks that he had tried to hide beneath it… they were still blue and purple. Dumbledore couldn't remove the paint, not even with Mrs. Skower's All Purpose Magical Mess Remover.

Seeing Malfoy's hippie-like hairdo, the whole Great Hall erupted with laughter, and from that day he had to put up with everyone's teasing.

"Hey, Draco, did you really have suns wearing sunglasses on your robes?" Seamus shouted after the blonde boy.

"I heard that the orangutangs were terrific on your face, Malfoy!" Dean added.

"Is it true that all this could be thanked to Hermione and Ginny?" Ron asked with a smirk. He was terribly proud of his girlfriend and little sister.

"Yea, that's true, Weasel." Draco drawled. "And you know what? I could go and squeal on them if I wanted…"

"Really?" Ron raised an eyebrow. "And who would believe you – besides Snapey? Not to mention that you should be happy you didn't get punished for staying on the corridor after bedtime."

"It wasn't my choice to stay there, you know it as well as I do." Draco growled. "Now leave me alone and mind your own business… like… go and find your ratty friend! I hope you'll also get lost!"

Ron gasped. How could Draco know about Harry's disappearance?

"You are surprised that I know it, aren't you?" Malfoy sneered. "Getting painted from head to toe had at least one advantage: I heard Dumbledore telling Snape that Potter was missing. Oh, that poor little sister of yours! She won't have a chance to marry him, and your family will have to live in shame forever!" he cackled. "Another field-day for the journalists, Weasel! Imagine the headline: '_Weasley child – now surely illegitimate'_, or '_The runaway_ g_room_'. Cool, aren't they?"

Ron was about to punch Draco's face when the voice of McGonagall interrupted their little chat: "Every students go back into your common rooms! Teachers into the stuff room, please!"

"See, Weasel?" Malfoy grinned. "They are gonna have a teachers' conference about that worth-nothing buddy of yours! Well, see you at next Potions class! We are going to learn about some cool poisons… I'll ask Snape to try them on you!" and off he went, leaving a furious Ron behind.

"Mr. Weasley, didn't you hear Professor McGonagall's command?" professor Flitwick asked, hurrying up to the staff room. 

Ron just nodded. 

The teachers were going to have a meeting to discuss the case of poor Harry, who had got lost. Ron had never felt so miserable before – he feared to have lost his best friend… forever.

* * * * *

"Is it true, Albus?" Professor Lupin asked, frowning. 

"Yes, to my greatest regret, it's true." the headmaster sighed. "The boy got lost, and we cannot find him – not even via owl-post. I've already sent Hagrid to look for him at the Dursleys', but they said that Harry had decided to come back to Hogwarts right after dinner, and set out for Mrs. Figg's… but never arrived there… No one knows where he is. Supposedly a strong curse is hiding him from us – a curse that makes him unrecognisable to the owls."

"But what kind of curse could that be?" professor Sprout interjected.

"We can only guess." McGonagall replied. "But Albus is in the firm belief that it must have been connected to a certain potion called Teih-Nessegrev."

"What?" Flitwick hopped up. "I've never heard about such a potion. Have you, Severus?"

Snape didn't answer at once. He remembered having taught this potion to the sevenths-years just about eight or nine days earlier. "Yes, of course I know that one. It is one of the most difficult potions on the world. I taught… er_, tried to_ teach it to the seventh-years last week. No one of them managed to make it properly. *No one, except Malfoy.* he added in thought.

"What do you know about it?" Minerva demanded.

"It was invented by a German wizard in the thirteenth century. Its name originates from the German word 'Vergessenheit', that means oblivion. It is only effective when added to clear water, and it totally erases the drinker's memory. Yeah, and its side effect is that it gives the drinker an invisible aura that hides him from the owls. Up till now no antidote has been invented. Well, that's all I can tell you about that potion." he shrugged. "Anyway, we cannot be sure that Potter got poisoned by this one. There are so many other possibilities as well."

"Yes? Name one!" Lupin said.

Snape didn't react on Lupin's words. He still couldn't stand that werewolf, no matter what a good teacher he was. Remus got the job of the Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher again, which, of course, made him even less likeable to Snape.

"What can we do now?" Flitwick asked. "Should we send people all over England to find Potter?"

"No." Dumbledore answered. "We have to keep this a secret as long as possible. We could only send one of us."

"Yes, of course we should send someone!" McGonagall exclaimed, her eyes sparkling behind her rectangular glasses. "Someone HAS to find that poor boy! He has very likely lost his memories and cannot find his way back here! Can you imagine what terrible dangers could he get into? Especially with You-Know-Who ravaging around? We've got to find that boy – we owe him that much!"

"_Owe – him_?" Snape looked like as if he'd just swallowed a skrewt.

"Yes, Severus, we do!" Minerva stated with an extremely strict glance. "Without him Hogwarts would have been destroyed for several times by now! He saved the school from that crazy Quirrel, dealt with the perils of the Chamber of Secrets and managed to drive the Dark Lord away last year, too."

"That was Black, not Potter." Snape pointed out.

"Black couldn't have succeeded without Harry." Dumbledore answered. "You have to acknowledge that, Severus."

"Yes, of course… we mustn't forget what Potter had done for the school… drawing it into the greatest scandal of the century." Snape murmured under his breath, feeling totally humiliated. His colleagues were telling him off – because of Potter! Again Potter! ALWAYS Potter! Not even a lost – or dead – Potter could leave him in peace!

"Okay. Let's close this debate." Lupin cut in. "I shall go and look for Harry… if you give your consent, Albus."

Dumbledore looked contemplative for a minute. "But who will teach your subject in your absence?"

"My prominent colleague, Professor Snape." Remus replied.

Snape looked up. What? Lupin commending him to the headmaster? He must have been dreaming.

He pinched himself. No, it was no dream. "I'll gladly deputise for Lupin." he turned to Dumbledore.

"I can imagine how gladly, Severus." Albus nodded. "All right. Remus, come with me. We have to discuss the details of your journey."

As the door slammed shut behind the headmaster and the werewolf, a wicked grin spread on Snape's yellowish face.

At last. He'd have what he'd always wanted. And truth be told, he had to thank it to Potter…

* * * * *

"Rooon! How long do I have to wait for you?" Hermione asked nervously. "DADA is about to start in two minutes! Stop dawdling with that toast, will you? 

Ron kept chewing. "Don't rush me, Herm!" 

"But I don't want to be late for Lupin's class! He said we'd learn about the Yetis today!"

"The Yetis?" Ron groaned. "Oh, no! We've already learnt about them… in second class, don't you remember? That Lockhart guy told Harry to imitate a Yeti that he'd allegedly vindicated years earlier." Ron reached out for the jug of milk. "Do you remember poor Harry having to wear the fur of a grizzly bear to look a bit like a Yeti?" his heart sank at that moment. He might as well have asked: '_Do you remember Harry?_' he knew that Hermione was suffering as much as he was – neither of them managed to keep their best friend out of their minds for a single minute. Ron supposed that Ginny was feeling the same way: desperate, almost hopeless.

"Leave that jug, Ron and come at last!" the girl commanded.

"Aye, aye, captain!" the boy sighed and stood up. "I hope this lesson will be more enjoyable than that one with Mr. Goldilocks!"

"Of course it will be much better. Lupin's lessons are always great." Hermione replied as they hurried upstairs. When they reached the door of the DADA classroom, they found it already closed. "See? We are late!" the girl frowned.

"Luck that Lupin never punishes anyone…" Ron said aloud while opening the door.

"That is Lupin, Weasley. Not me." a grim voice came from inside.

Ron and Hermione exchanged horror-stricken glances. They both felt as if blood had frozen in their veins. "It's… it's… Snape…" the boy whispered. "What are we gonna do now?"

For possibly the first time in her life, Hermione had no idea what to answer.

"If you don't want me to take fifty points from Gryffindor – fifty per head – then don't make us wait any longer, Weasley!" Snape's voice came out of the classroom.

The two youngsters gulped and entered. All eyes focused on them as they headed for their seats.

"I didn't let you sit down!" Severus said harshly. Hermione and Ron turned around. "Weasley, stand into the corner, and for the remaining part of the lesson, repent your cheek. Granger, get to the table and write "_I swear I will never be late for the lesson of professor Snape_" for… let's say… five hundred times." Hermione didn't believe her ears. No teacher in the whole school could do THIS to HER! "What are you waiting for, Granger? Move your butt!"

Whaaat? Hermione got livid with fury. How dare anyone speak to her like that? She is a model student! No one has the right to treat her that way! NO ONE!

"Hey, come, Herm!" Ron held out the chalk for her.

"No, Ron, thanks." she replied, then turned to Snape. "I – will – not – write - down – that – rubbish – for - five – hundred - times!" she yelled. 

"Herm…" Ron took her arm.

"No, Ron, let me speak!" she tossed him away.

"Speak?" Snape scowled at her. "I don't remember having given you my consent to open your big mouth, Granger! If you don't comply, you may as well go! The door is that way! And don't dare come back to any of my classes – Potions included!"

"Are you sacking me, Professor?" Hermione shouted. "Okay, I'm going to Professor Dumbledore! Let's see his opinion about your methods of education!"

"Easy does it, Granger!" Snape sneered. "Dumbledore, alas, is outdoors right now."

"Then I'll go the Professor McGonagall!" she retorted.

"She left together with Albus, last night. They won't be back in the next two weeks." Severus smirked even more.

"Okay, then! I'm leaving!" she looked at Ron. "Are you also coming?"

The boy shook his head. "No, Herm… and neither should you…" he was rewarded by the most withering look Hermione had ever given him. "I'm sorry…" he mumbled, but the girl didn't hear him anymore.

She had left.

* * * * *

Their next lesson was Care of Magical Creatures, and the students were washing the Martians again. Hagrid seemed to be in quite a good mood. "Silence… silence and peace…" he sighed. "No Malfoy ter bother us no more… Fer a prefect he still doesn' know how ter behave…" his eyes fell on Ron. "Why are yeh lookin' that sad? Yeh should be happy that that flobberworm isn' here."

"He ran away from last class… just like Hermione." the boy muttered.

"Hermione?" the giant's eyes widened. "What'd yeh mean? Er, I've wanted ter ask yeh why yer girlfriend wasn' here."

Ron blushed. How could Hagrid know about his romance with Hermione? "I'll tell you later, okay?"

The half-giant nodded. "Okay, everyone, pick up the brushes again an' scrub the Martians' back! Hurry up, I want 'em as fragrant as the wildflowers in the Hogwarts parks!"

All students got down to cleaning the smelly, greenish aliens that made funny, belching sounds all along.

"Now tell me, what's botherin' yeh?" Hagrid turned to Ron after every student left. "Get it off yer chest!"

Ron sat down next to his friend. "Everything… everything went wrong, Hagrid. First of all, Harry got lost."

"I know." the giant said with a resigned voice.

"He is lost, and no owls can find him." Ron sighed. "Surely that's why Professor Dumbledore, McGonagall and Lupin left the castle. Maybe they want to look for him, I don't know. But now Snape is our Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher, and he had a terrible row with Hermione, who ran away… I think she got terribly angry with me, because I didn't want to stand up to Snape. She must be feeling betrayed… betrayed by me."

"Hey…" Hagrid squeezed Ron's shoulders. "It wasn' yer fault. Yeh were right that yeh didn' oppose Snape. He can be quite nasty sometimes."

"Quite nasty? That's a grave understatement!" Ron said. "I have to go, Hagrid. Have to find her and tell her that I…"

"That yeh love her, right?"

"Exactly." Ron gave his friend a small smile and off he went.

* * * * *

"Herm…"

"Don't talk to me." the girl answered, never looking up from her book – the fourth volume of Beautiful Bill's Biography. Maybe she was determined to annoy Ron, clearly showing that she was reading that particular book.

"Look, Herm, I…"

The girl slammed the book shut, stood up and headed for the door of the library.

Ron, however, didn't intend to let her go. He grabbed her arm to hold her back.

"Do – not – touch – me – you…" she hissed, trying to break free, but Ron's hands held her in a vice-like grip.

"…what?" he asked, trying to complete the sentence: "Traitor? Maybe. Fool? I don't think so. If one of use could be called a fool, then it's surely not me."

Hermione knitted her eyebrows, her pretty face contorting into the image of a banshee just about to shriek. "You chose… you chose Snape! Not me, him!" she shouted.

"I didn't want to get expelled, Herm. Snape is the deputy headmaster in Dumbledore and McGonagall's absence. He has all the power and no sentient being at Hogwarts would cross him!"

"Do you mean that I'm _not _sentient?" she gritted her teeth. (Since that incident in fourth year, she had the nicest row of teeth in the whole school – still, Ron didn't like it now.)

"Listen, Hermione, I don't want to argue with you! I love you!"

"Hah! Love me? You chose a strange way to prove it." she tried to toss his arms away, but the boy still held her close – maybe even closer than a minute earlier.

"Hermione, getting ourselves sacked isn't the right path to follow, is it? Especially not now, when we are in our final year!" he tried to affect Hermione's common sense and her enthusiasm for studying. "Just think of all those cool exams we'll have to take at the end of the year! Do you want to miss them all? Imagine those wonderful tasks: McGonagall will surely make us transform each other into dagger-toothed tigers! Binns will make us write a twenty-feet-long essay on Frankie the Freckled and Victor the Vicious. And of course there'll be terrific tasks from Hagrid too, for example having to steal a horn from the Hungarian Horntail dragon, or having to ride a wild unicorn… You don't want to be left out of all these fun, do you?"

The girl looked down on her shoes. Ron was right. She'd never miss the opportunity to become a full-fledged witch – and not even Snape could prevent her from becoming one.

"Okay." she sighed. "I'm gonna apologise by Snape and even humiliate myself if needed. I WANT that diploma."

"Clever girl." Ron smiled. "You'll be the best witch ever."

"Sure, I will." she replied. "Would you please let go of me now?"

"Oh… sorry." he blushed and followed her with his eyes. "Er, Herm…" She turned back from the doorframe. "I meant it."

"What?" she looked amused.

"That I loved you. I really do."

"You'd better mean it." Hermione said and, screwing up her courage, she left for Snape's room to plead him to let her attend his classes as before.

* * * * *

A loud bang came from upstairs. Molly Weasley dropped the frying pan. "What are you two doing again???" she shouted angrily.

"Nothin', mom!" George yelled back.

"Nothing?" his mother freaked. "You scared me so much that I dropped my favourite frying pan! It was the one I got from your father as a wedding present, and now it got dented! It's all your fault, and don't ever deny it!"

"We won't mom." came Fred's voice. 

"Come down, breakfast is ready!" Molly shouted. "Though you wouldn't deserve it." she added.

"Coming!" the twins yelled in unison. A minute later two scorched Weasley twins thundered downstairs. "What's for breakfast? We're starving!"

"Stop!" their mother cried. "Stop at the doorframe! Don't you come into my newly cleaned kitchen until you haven't cleaned yourselves, too!"

"But mom, it's just a bit of soot, nothing else!" George whined. "We are hungry!"

"Up! I said go upstairs!" Molly howled at them. "I want to hear the water run!"

"Okay…" sighed Fred. "C'mon, George."

They went upstairs and turned on the taps. "Now mom can hear the water run." George snickered. They waited for another two minutes – the usual time necessary for a quick wash – then went downstairs.

"Ready, mom. Can we have the toasts, please?"

"Sit down." Molly told them with a small smile. "Your breakfast, here…" she was about to hand Fred a toast, who reached out for it with both hands. Molly jerked the toast back and grabbed Fred's hand. "Do you call this _clean?_ Do you???"

Fred cast a glance at his palm. "Geez, it must have got dirty when we came downstairs… you know I grabbed the bars of the stairs… they must have been a bit dusty, I guess…"

"Dusty, eh?" Mrs. Weasley knitted her eyebrows. At that moment she looked exactly like Percy when being disturbed in the middle of writing a report on cauldron thickness. "Just to inform you, I cleaned the bars yesterday."

"Really?" George gave her an innocent look. "Er, must have been the ghoul from the attic. He was surely very bored and dirtied the bars just for fun…"

"Just for fun, huh?" Molly looked at them wearing a '_don't-take-me-for-a-fool_-stare'. "Get out of my sight! No breakfast today!"

"But, mom…"

"No 'but mom'." Mrs. Weasly replied sternly. "You had a chance and you forfeited it. Now…"

She couldn't finish her sentence, because the flames in the fireplace started to crackle, indicating an incoming call or visitor.

It happened to be the latter.

An old lady stumbled out of the fireplace, her jet-black cat jumping down from her arms.

"Vader! Come back right now!" she yelled after the kitty, that didn't seem to have heard her. "Oh, my I'm sorry, Mrs. Weasley, he is my newest cat, just bought him yesterday. He's still a kitten and very mischievous."

"Oh, never mind. We like cats." Molly answered. "But would you please tell us who you are?"

"Oh, how ill-mannered I am!" the old women turned red. "My name is Arabella Figg." she stretched out her hand and Molly shook it.

"Pleased to meet you, Ms. Figg. Or Mrs. Figg?"

"Oh, yes, Mrs. Figg. I'm a widow." Arabella replied. "Vader! Leave that curtain! Don't you scratch that door! Oh, I'm sorry, Mrs. Weasely, he's so playful. Maybe I shouldn't have brought him."

"Maybe." Molly nodded. "To what do I owe the honour of your visit, Mrs. Figg?"

"Oh, I almost forgot." Arabella chuckled. "Well, it's about Harry Potter. I know where he is."

"At the Dursleys', I presume." Molly replied, believing that the old woman was somewhat senile.

"At the Dursleys'?" Mrs. Figg raised an eyebrow. "You haven't heard it yet?"

"What?" Mrs. Weasley asked, confused.

Fred and George exchanged worried glances.

"Harry left the Dursleys almost two weeks ago, and no one knows where he'd gone."

"Left? No one knows… oh my! _He fled_! He got scared from the responsibility of having to marry my Ginny and fled! That damned little…"

"No, no, no, please, Mrs. Weasley, let me finish!" Arabella cut in. "He didn't flee at all. He lost his memories and got lost somehow. Look at this." she handed a newspaper to the red-headed woman. "A Muggle paper, that one of my old friends brought me after having travelled through the town of Great Winging."

Molly unfolded the paper. On the second page she saw two people: Harry and… "Hey, that's Gilderoy Lockhart!" she gasped.

"Lockhart?" the twins gaped. "With Harry?"

"Yeah, look: 'TWO UNFORTUNATE AMNESIACS WAITING FOR SOMEONE TO RECOGNISE THEM'." Molly read out the headline. "Poor, poor dear Harry…" tears appeared in the corners of her eyes. "And I almost thought that he was… it's not his fault…" she wiped her tears away. "But look! His forehead!"

"What is with his forehead?" the twins asked curiously.

"The scar! _I can't see the scar_!" 


	16. Lucius Malfoy's choice

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A/N: Oh my, you are REALLY wonderful readers! Thank you for all your compliments!

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Tayla Riddle: Don't worry, I wasn't offended at all.

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Creamy Mimi: Snape does not want Harry to be lost forever because he knows things… well, not telling what… but in chapter 14 Snape thought: _*Under normal circumstances I'd certainly think of something to keep Potter away from the school forever… but given that pregnancy… and everything that ensues when the child is born… like it or not, Potter has to be found.* _So, no matter how much he hates Harry, he wants him to come back. (Though he'd never show or tell it to anyone.)

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sharliestar: I didn't take your review as a flame :-)

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Hermione Gulliver: you wrote: _"Because he has no memories he doesn't need a reminder, aka the scar?? I'm sure your explanation is much better!"_ – well, it's not better just much simpler.

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clara2000: I'm happy that you liked the painted Malfoy! I liked him too!!!

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PadmeSkywalker: ((hm, another SW fan? I'm one, too)) I promise you that Harry will get his memories back, but it won't happen right now. He _needs_ to be amnesiac for a while because the plot requires it.

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sirius's biggest fan: everyone asks when the baby will be born. I'm not telling yet – well, maybe it'll happen some time in December… (I mean in real-time December. In the story it will happen in June.) As about the scar… everyone asks that, too… you'll find out at the end of the story. (And yes, he'll get it back! Harry Potter is no Harry Potter without his scar!)

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Waldomier: I'm glad that you liked Mrs. Figg, it was real fun for me to write such a crazy but loveable old hag :-)

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Lionheart Eternal: don't worry, Millicent won't make more problems for Harry… but for someone else she will.

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Jenna: the answer to your question is _yes_, but only in an implied way, not "on-screen".

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Iris McCartney: I'm delighted that my story leaves you guessing, and that you think it's true to the feeling of the books. That's the greatest compliment I could get. (And yes, Harry Potter really rules! :)

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Jesse: have I made you a Mrs. Figg fan??? lol…

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Amanda: the Dursleys won't find out what Dudley did, but even if they found it out, they wouldn't care. They are happy about having got rid of Harry. (About the movie: which HP fan wouldn't want to be in it??? I would even be happy to play a suit of armour…)

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Ghetto: I know the REAL song of the dwarf by heart (as well as I know the songs of the sphinx and the merpeople by heart). You should have realised that I rewrote the dwarf's song so that it would suit the situation (Ginny being pregnant, Harry being scared). That's all I can comment on your remark.

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The Firefaery: I'm sorry that you don't like Lockhart, because you'll have to put up with him in about 5-6 chapters. My mother also used to hate him but she said that I managed to make her like Gilderoy. About the baby: Ginny won't have twins, only one kid. I'm not revealing the gender yet. A sonogram examination would be cute, but there's really no place for such Muggle stuff in a HP story.

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obi_ewan_maul_lover: I do like Star Wars, I was totally obsessed with it for four whole years, but as I read HP this April, I just fell in love, and my SW mania decreased a bit. I still like it, though, but now HP is my number one obsession.

All right, read and enjoy!

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Chapter 16

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Lucius Malfoy's choice

Molly looked desperate. "Tell me, Mrs. Figg, is the photo that bad, are my eyes getting bad, or does Harry really have no scar anymore?"

"No idea, Mrs. Weasley." the old woman shook her head. "Strange… extremely strange…"

"The strangest is that he met Goldilocks." Fred whispered to George. "And Ron only wrote about some charm or curse that made Harry unrecognisable to the owls, but never mentioned anything about his amnesia or vanishing scars."

Though Fred was talking very quietly, Mrs. Weasley didn't miss a single word from his speech.

"Did you… did you know about this?" she hissed, totally upset. "Did you know that Harry got lost, and never told me?"

"Well, mom…" George mumbled.

"…yeah, it's just…" Fred continued.

"…that we didn't want to worry you, mom. And Dumbledore wants to keep it a secret for a while."

"Not to worry???" Molly was beside herself with rage. "How could you keep this from me? It's about my future son-in-law! Your sister's fiancee!"

"We know, mom, but don't worry. Mrs. Figg found him, didn't she?" Fred pointed his finger at the old woman.

"Oh, yeah." his mother muttered. "I'll call your father and we'll go to Great Winging for poor Harry." she shook her head. "We mustn't leave that child at a police station!"

"_Child_???" George made an amused face. "That 'child' fathered a child to your daughter, remember?"

Mrs. Weasely blushed a bit. "Oh, just my maternal instincts at work... For me all of you are children. Even Bill, Charlie and Percy. Yes, you two, too."

"Moooom…" the twins groaned. "We are NO children anymore!"

"No children?" Molly smiled. "Then why did you refuse to wash yourselves? That is a typical child behaviour." she turned to Mrs. Figg. "Thank you very much for your information. You helped a lot. But why didn't you just send us an owl?"

"Oh, because… stop that, Vader! Get off the sofa! Back into the kitchen, you naughty… oh, sorry, Mrs. Weasley." she chuckled. "Well, back to your question: I don't own an owl. Only cats. That's because I'm living in a Muggle town, near the Dursleys. An owl would be quite conspicuous there, wouldn't it?"

"Oh, of course." Molly nodded.

"I have to go now. Find and bring Harry back." Arabella said and stepped to the fireplace. "Vader!" the black cat jumped into her arms. "Good-bye."

"Good-bye and thank you!" Molly waved her hand.

"Bye, Mrs. Figg!" the twins yelled and were about to sneak out of the kitchen while their mother was staring into the flames.

"No, you don't." she said, her back still turned on them.

"Don't what?" George asked.

"Don't take those toasts. Put them back on the table." she turned around.

The twins exchanged resigned looks and pulled the food out from behind their backs.

"Good boys." Mrs. Weasley smiled. "Now go up and clean your room. I presume it needs some tidying. Oh, and don't forget to clean yourselves, too."

* * * * *

Officer John Thomson, at the Police Station of Great Winging, was reading a report on some local burglaries when the door opened.

He looked up.

The two strangest-looking people he had ever seen were standing before him. They were wearing robes, just like that poor amnesiac boy he had grown to like so much. One of the visitors was tall and almost bald, the other was small and plump. They both had fiery red hair.

"Um, good morning. I am Officer Thomson. May I help you?" John asked, putting the report down.

"Er, yes." the man stepped closer. "We've come to see Harry Potter."

"Who?" the officer raised an eyebrow.

"The young man who was shown in the paper a week ago." the small woman replied.

"The boy?" John's face lit up. "You know him?"

"Of course we do. He is our son's best friend. His name is Harry Potter." the tall man said. 

"Where is he? Could we see him right now?" the woman asked excitedly.

The small smile disappeared from the officer's face. "I'm sorry lady, sir, he isn't here anymore."

"Isn't here?" the woman yelled. "Where's he then? Have you turned him over to the Ministry of Lost Muggles, or what?"

"Molly, there's no ministry like that." the man whispered.

"No, madam, I'm sorry." Thomson answered. "He just disappeared last week… together with the other man whose picture you must have seen in the article."

"With Gilderoy?" the woman gaped.

"Not _Gilderoy_, sweetheart, _Lockhart_." the man corrected.

"Oh, sure, Lockhart." the woman sighed dreamily and turned back to the officer. "Where did they go?"

"I have no idea." John shook his head. "When the boy – Harry – left my office for the room he shared with that blonde guy, everything seemed to be okay. I decided to join them ten minutes later, but by the time I got there, they weren't in the room. I started to look for them in the town with the help of my colleague, but we just couldn't find them… they disappeared without trace… Incredible, isn't it?"

"Disapparating." the tall man stated. 

"But how, Arthur? Harry couldn't have already learnt that! Not even Ron or Hermione know how to do it!"

"But Lockhart might have known it." the man said. "He is a full-fledged wiz…" the woman clamped her hand on his mouth.

"I know, I know." she replied. "But he is amnesiac, according to the article. How could he remember how to disapparate? That's nonsense, Arthur!"

"Um, may I interrupt you?" Thomson asked.

"Yeah." the two red-haired people turned to him.

"That Lockhart, or who, mentioned that he had selective amnesia. Sometimes he remembered things." John said. "Though he usually forgot them not much later."

"That's it!" the tall man yelled. "He must have remembered how to disapparate, even if only for a minute."

"But, Arthur, where can they be now?" the woman asked, clearly worried.

"Good question, Molly." he turned to the officer. "Well, thanks for your help, I wish all Muggles were as kind as you."

"Arthur!" Molly pinched him. 

"Sorry, dear, I always forget… but you, too!"

"Sure, I admit it." the woman smiled. "Just one more question, officer: did Harry have a lightning-shaped scar on his forehead?"

"Scar?" John tried to remember. "No. No scar."

The woman shot an anxious glimpse at the man. "Are you sure?"

"Absolutely." the officer replied. 

"Most curious." the balding man muttered. 

"Yeah, most curious." the woman nodded. "If there was no scar, then it simply couldn't be Harry… could it, Arthur?"

"No. Curse scars never vanish." the man shook his head. "The photo must have been wrong. That boy on it only resembled Harry. We've come here to no avail… it wasn't Harry."

"But what if it was? Arthur, we should at least notify Dumlbedore…" the woman insisted.

"Oh yeah, and then Dumbledore will think that we are crazy." the tall man shook his head. "I don't want to end up in the lunatic ward of St. Mungo. Do you?"

"No, of course not, Arthur." his wife said. "You are right. It wasn't Harry… We have to tell the twins not to tell anyone about the article… we shouldn't bother people with such alarmist reports!" she turned to John. "Well, thank you once more, Mr. Thomson. Good bye."

"Um, good-bye." the officer mumbled. He was sure that his visitors were out of their minds.

At the door the man bent down to the woman and whispered something that John didn't hear.

"Um, Molly, dear, don't you think we should implement a memory charm on this guy?"

The woman glanced back on the officer. "Nay, dear. He is totally harmless, and we didn't reveal anything to him, either. Just leave him in the belief that he had some lunatic visitors."

John saw the man nod and offer his arm to the woman. They left the office. 

Thomson found them somehow suspicious. *Should I have arrested them?* he wondered. He decided to have a look at the strange couple's car – it might have been stolen. Who knows? They might have been burglars or murderers, or drug-traffickers…

He hurried out to the open air.

The couple had already left.

But how? Thomson didn't hear the motor of a car at work… but they couldn't have got out of sight so quickly on their feet, could they?

Officer John Thomson was confused.

Very confused, indeed.

* * * * *

The Dark Lord was bored to death. He was sitting in his favourite armchair, stroking Nagini's head and listening to his death eaters' reports about their jobs.

"Enough, enough of this, Crabbe!" he growled at a fat death eater. "I'm not interested in that Muggled you flayed. I'm fed up with all of you only committing such petty crimes. I want massacres all around the globe and my dark mark painted on every single building on earth! And of course… I want you to deliver me interesting news, not such trivial ones like Goyle's heart attack. Who cares about him?"

Lucius Malfoy stepped forward and bowed deeply.

"Yes, Lucius?" Voldemort asked. "Do you have something interesting to share with me?"

"Yes, My Lord." Malfoy replied. He knew that he had to get back the Dark Lord's grace that he'd almost lost when Voldemort got to know that Arthur Weasely had caught him hiding illegal dark-magic artefacts at his mansion. Voldemort hated to be surrounded by incompetent and foolish servants – he only wanted the most perfect ones. Lucius decided to show him that HE was the most perfect of all of the death eaters, providing him with the information that none other of the Dark Lord's servants could tell him. "Harry Potter got lost, My Lord."

"_Lost_?" Voldemort raised an eyebrow, his red eyes glinting with interest. "Go ahead, I'm all ears."

Malfoy cleared his throat. "The boy, um, has drunk a certain potion that erased his memories, My Lord. His family, those Dursleys put him out somewhere and he couldn't find his way back to either Hogwarts or to his family. He doesn't remember anything, and is surely strolling along the streets of some small town trying to figure out who he is."

"Most interesting, Lucius." Voldemort nodded. "But tell me, how do you know of all these, if no one else knows it?"

"My son reported me about it, My Lord."

"Ah, your son… Drakie…"

"Draco." Malfoy corrected, then suddenly realised that he shouldn't have done so. Correcting the Dark Lord himself! How could he do such a foolish thing? He'll get killed, for sure. He shut his eyes, waiting for the _Avada Kedavra_ to strike him down, but it never came.

"So, your son, Lucius." Voldemort repeated. "Draco. Hmmm, a great death eater he could be…"

Lucius looked up. "A death eater? My son?" he dropped to his knees. "Thank you, My Lord! This is the greatest honour!"

"Stand up, Lucius, and tell me, do all the students at Hogwarts know about Potter's disappearance?"

"No, My Lord." Malfoy replied. "I think only Potter's closest friends may know about it."

"His closest friends?" Voldemort knitted his eyebrows. "As far as I know, your son is definitely not one of Potter's closest friends, is he?"

"No, My Lord. They are arch-enemies." Lucius answered. "Draco hates Potter as much as you do, My Lord. Thus he'll be an obedient servant of yours."

"You are gravely mistaken, Lucius." Voldemort said. "No one – not even your son – can hate Harry Potter as much as I do."

Malfoy bowed. "As you wish, my lord. Then Draco is the second one who hates him the most."

"Yes, he may be." the dark lord replied. "But you still haven't answered my question. How could your son get to know about Harry's disappearance, if he doesn't belong to Harry's friends? How?"

Lucius gulped. He didn't want to tell his lord that Draco made the potion that erased Potter's memories. The dark lord would think that it was Draco's fault that no one – not even he, Voldemort, – could find Harry now.

"I'm – waiting – for – your – answer." Voldemort said at a low voice.

Lucius felt his knees buckle. He realised that he'd better kept his big mouth shut. Trying to get back in favour with the Dark Lord, he revealed not only the fact that Potter was lost, but much more than that… things he should have kept a secret forever. He knew that if the Dark Lord got to know that it was Draco who got rid of Potter, he'd want to revenge himself on Draco, just because the boy denied him the chance to eliminate Harry himself. For Malfoy knew that there were two things that Voldemort wanted above all – first: to gain immortality, second: to kill Harry Potter.

Lucius now reached a deadlock: he could betray his son; or he could refuse to provide that information to the dark lord – and get killed in return. Or he could lie…

"Well, my Lord, my son overheard a discussion between… I don't know whom, but… he just heard it somewhere, I guess." Lucius answered with a quavering voice.

Voldemort's red eyes became slits. "_You are lying_."

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A/N2: All right, a stupid Lucius… even the brightest people can make mistakes once in a while. But at least you got a bit more of Voldie… lol.

Sorry that this chapter was so short – this was kind of a transition chapter. The next one will be much longer, set in EGYPT!!!

Review!!!


	17. Arabian nights

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A/N: thanks again for all the reviews, people!!!! 

Oh my, you can't imagine how much I envy you right now! If only I lived in the US or the UK!!! I suppose many of you have already seen the film – good for you. I have to wait for another 25 days! Life isn't fair!!!! *big sigh* All I can do now is listen to the soundtrack… over and over and over… Williams really did a great job with it.

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Reemaski: you wrote: "JK would be proud." Wow! That was the greatest compliment I could get! Thank you!

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Zoozoonee: I hope you did well on your exam! I'd feel really bad if I was the reason why you got bad marks at school :-)

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Waldomier: No, I can't speak Egyptian, nor Arab – so the street names is in this chapter don't mean anything, I just made them up. All I know in Arab is "Yallah!", which means "hurry up!"

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Amanda: you asked about Draco. My answer is "well, kind of" :-)

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jabberwalkie and_ Dragonessa Smith_: I appreciate your suggestions for the baby's name but I already know what he/she will be called and don't intend to change it.

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Lexi, Anti Cho Queen ((does this mean that you hate Cho??? I for one detest her.)) Anyway, I didn't mention with a single word that Lucius died….

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ickleyoda: I'm happy that you liked Gilderoy! I love that guy! He's so funny! ((you are also an SW fan, aren't you? There are so many of us, even here in the HP section of ffnet!))

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janus melina: why Dallas??? Simply because I love its main theme, and used to like the series too, when I was ten. You were surprised that a 17 year old could hum its melody – well, why not? Even Dudley could have heard it from his parents, couldn't he? (Anyway, this little detail wasn't supposed to be important in the story.)

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April Rane: thanks for your compliment on my grammar skills. It's always nice to hear that I'm quite good in English…

And now, on to chapter 17!

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Chapter 17

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Arabian nights

It was December the second when the first snow fell on Hogwarts. The meadow and the trees of the Forbidden Forest were covered with a cold, white layer that glittered in the winter sunshine. The water of the lake had frozen the night before, and now it reflected the rays of the sun just like a polished mirror.

Ginny was sitting in a window, watching the sunshine dance on the fields. Everything seemed to be happy and bright, but in her heart there was nothing but darkness. She hadn't heard anything about her love for more than two weeks now. She was determined not to give up hope, but every passing day, hour and minute without Harry was hell for her. She wasn't that sure about ever seeing Harry again. She wasn't sure whether he'd ever come back to her.

Of course she had no idea about Harry's amnesia, because Dumbledore didn't tell them about it. The old headmaster didn't want to worry them even more. Neither did her parents inform her and Ron about the article they had read in a Muggle newspaper, because they eventually came to the conclusion that the boy at the photo wasn't Harry. 

Now, two weeks after the 'de-journalisting', the students of Hogwarts started to realise that the famous Harry Potter was still absent. They began to ask Ginny, Ron and Hermione about his whereabouts, but these three refused to tell them the truth. It had to be kept a secret as long as possible. However, it wasn't easy, especially not when pupils started to question Harry's devotion to Ginny, saying that he might have got scared and ran away. Sometimes even Ginny inclined to believe this absurd theory – usually by night, when she had no one to turn to, no one to pour her heart out to. She often cried herself into sleep, and dreamed about Harry every single night. In her dreams he always looked happy, smiled and waved to her yelling that he loved her more than life itself.

Now the coldness of the snow outside couldn't be compared with the coldness in the youngest Weasley's heart. Gazing out on the fields, she wished to be in a particularly warm place… for example Egypt.

* * * * *

Little did Ginny know that at the same time she was thinking of her lost love, a certain boy in the far Egypt was also deeply immersed in his thoughts. He – Harry – who else? - was sitting under a palm-tree in an oasis, watching the camels drink from a puddle. It wasn't something too interesting to watch, but looking at those animals calmed him down so that he could think. He needed to think.

The events of the previous week had been more than enough for him. He was totally worn out.

A week earlier he and his crazy friend had still been at the police station of Great Winging, in the very far Great Britain. Then – he didn't understand at first, how – they got here. All he knew was that Gilderoy had taken him by the hand… in the first second they were in England, in the next one in the middle of a dune-sea. He remembered to have extremely been shocked by the sight of the infinite desert around them.

"Where on earth are we?" he had asked his companion. "Egypt? How in hell have we got here, Gilderoy?"

"By magic, of course." the blonde man let go of his hand, dusted off the sand of his clothes with a smug grin on his handsome face.

"Magic, sure." Harry sighed. "Did you not intend to bring us to Egypt?"

"That's exactly what I've done, kid." the man smiled, using his hands to shield his eyes from the burning rays of the desert sun. "Well, I guess I've miscalculated our jump a bit."

"_A bit_?" the boy exclaimed. "Man, you have brought us into the middle of the Sahara! Not into Cairo or some other civilised place… now would you please make another 'jump' and transport us directly to your friend, Abyss Sunny Amon?"

"Abysmal sun-Amun." Gilderoy corrected him. "But you have to admit now that there IS something like magic."

"Okay, okay, right, there is." the boy sighed. "Then would you bring us to your… um, _wizard_ friend?"

"Who? Where?" Lockhart's face abruptly changed into the usual idiotic expression he used to wear when having a new attack of his selective amnesia.

"Oh, no! Not again! Not now!" Harry slapped his forehead. "Gilderoy, Gilderoy, remember! You're a wizard! You brought us here! You have to bring us elsewhere… immediately!"

Lockhart looked around, shaking his head. "Blimey, what dreary place this is! It's unbearably hot, don't you think? It isn't good for my hairdo. Oh, by the way, my name is…" he stretched out his hand, "…gosh, I don't remember!"

*Here we go again…* the boy sighed inwardly and began to inform Lockhart about the events of the last two weeks. As usual, the man didn't believe a word of his.

"Okay, then don't believe me, but please, get us outta this desert, will ya?"

"You are asking me to do the impossible!" Lockhart kept shaking his blonde head.

"It's NOT impossible, Gilderoy! I've seen you do it! You are capable of it!"

"I'm sorry, kid. It looks like we're stuck here." he sat down and started to build a sandcastle. "Shit, no water for it."

"No water for us, either." the boy reminded him.

"Oh, don't worry, we won't need it. When nightfall comes it will be freezing around here. You won't feel like drinking, kid." Gilderoy explained.

"Freezing? Cool. Just what we need now." Harry kicked into Lockhart's half-ready sandcastle. He sank down into the sand next to Gilderoy. He let out a resigned sigh. It seemed that they were condemned to death if the wizard's memory didn't deign to come back within a few hours. But there was not much hope for that.

About four hours later, as the sun started to dive behind the horizon, painting the sky with all colours of yellow, orange and red, the boy suddenly looked up. "Look, Gilderoy! A caravan!"

"Where?" the blonde man blinked, so worn out from the terrible heat and the lack of water that he didn't even feel strong enough to open his eyes.

"There! About a mile away!" Harry pointed his finger at the small figures moving on the ridge of a far dune. "Come on, we've got to reach them!"

"They are moving too fast on their camels. We'd never catch up with them." Gilderoy sighed. "If only we could send them a sign…"

"A sign?" the boy's eyes widened. "_A sign_!" he reached into the pocket of his robe and grabbed his wand. *I don't know how to use this thing, but if Gilderoy is a wizard, then I also must be one! I must try this!* he told himself and made some flips with the 'staff'. It produced some red and gold sparks. "Yessss!" he yelled excitedly and started to make bigger loops with his wand, every nerve in his body concentrating on the act. However, the wand didn't give any signs of wanting to eject bigger sparks that could be also visible for the members of the caravan. Meanwhile, the sun totally disappeared behind the horizon. There was no chance anymore to get noticed by the travellers in daylight, and the boy was sure that his weak little flakes wouldn't attract any attention.

"Give it up, boy, it isn't worth the trouble." Gilderoy sighed.

"NO!" Harry kept swishing his wand. *A spell, there has to be a spell or something!* his mind reeled, trying to remember. "Um, _light_? Er, no. _Brightness_? Nay. _Luminosity_?" the wand started to shudder. "Almost, huh? _Lumi… lumi_ what? Or _Lumo_? _Lumos_?" suddenly the brightest white flames appeared on the tip of his wand. "That's it!" he yelled and started to wave the wand with the fire on its end in the nightly darkness. *They have to notice it! They have to!*

They did. Twenty minutes later the boy and his blonde companion were given water and a spare camel by the leader of the caravan.

"My name be Ali Ababwa." the bearded man introduced himself. "I learn English, speak it. Who you are?"

"We are two unfortunate travellers, sir." Harry replied. "My companion's name is Gilderoy Lockhart, but I cannot tell you mine, because I don't remember it."

"Not remember?" Ali knitted his eyebrows. "Why?"

"I lost all my memories, sir, about two weeks ago." Harry answered.

"And friend yours, there?" the Arab asked. "He remembers name?"

"Oh, he has a selective amnesia. But please let me explain it later." the boy said, frantically waving his wand, trying to put out the light. He simply couldn't. Harry tried to blow it away, but the flame burned on persistently.

"Say _Nox_." Gilderoy yawned.

"Huh?" Harry blinked, then shrugged. It was worth a try. "_Nox_." 

The flame went out and Harry was eternally grateful that Gilderoy accidentally remembered the right spell.

* * * * *

Thanks to Ali Ababwa and his caravan, Harry and Gilderoy reached the oasis Murzuk in three days. They spent two days there to recover their strength for the upcoming big journey to Cairo, where they had to find Abysmal sun-Amun, the wizard, who allegedly was an expert on amnesiac cases. Fortunately Lockhart regained some of his memories in Murzuk and was very eager to see his old friend again.

Harry, sitting under a palm-tree, watching the camels drink, was thinking about his magical deed back in the desert. He still couldn't believe that he actually implemented a charm. He started to believe that he _really_ was a sorcerer.

Suddenly something heavy, landing on the top of his head, shook him out of his reveries.

"Ouch!" he yelled and looked up to see a small monkey at the tree. "Hey, stop that, pal, will ya?" he shouted. "Bombarding people with bananas isn't a nice thing to do!"

The monkey gave out a funny voice, sounding like chuckling. "Are you laughing at me?" Harry jumped up from his sitting position and grabbed the animal by its tail. "Got you, you little imp!" he smirked. The monkey looked surprised then started to snigger and point his little fingers downwards. Harry looked down and gulped.

He had somehow jumped up into the foliage, five metres from the ground. People gathered around the palm-tree, murmuring excitedly.

"How have I done this?" Harry asked the monkey, but it didn't reply, just shrugged. 

"We've got to get down from here." Harry said. "And explain this to those people under us. Whew, you've got me into trouble, you know it, don't you?"

A mischievous grin spread on the monkey's face.

"Okay. I start to climb down - you stay calm and don't throw bananas on me, OK?" Harry told the animal, as though it had been intelligent enough to comprehend his words.

As Harry reached the ground, he immediately got surrounded by people frantically blabbering in a funny language - surely Arab, gesticulating with their hands.

"Sorry, I don't understand." Harry shook his head. 

"They saying you are magician." Ali Ababwa helped him out.

"Magician?" the boy laughed. "Rubbish!" he felt uneasy - he had just persuaded himself, that he was a wizard, and now had to deny it.

"People here believe magic a lot." Ali explained. "They never seen magic, but believe it… oh, look, your friend wake up!" he pointed his finger at a blonde figure coming out of the local 'hotel', that consisted of three dirty rooms and a dining room full of flies.

"Good morning, Gilderoy!" Harry greeted him.

"Hello." Lockhart waved his hand, smiling. "What beautiful day we have! Though the desert air isn't good for my sensitive skin… oh, well, I'll have to buy hydrating creams in Cairo. Ah, Mr. Abu, when are we going to set off for Cairo?"

"Tomorrow, Mr. Lockhart." Ali answered. "You know Cairo well?"

"What? Cairo? Who's going to Cairo?" Gilderoy looked around, confused. Neither Harry, nor Ali got surprised this time - they already got used to Lockhart's sudden relapses.

When being in his 'remembering-stages', Gilderoy managed to recall some interesting details about his past: he remembered his grandma curling his hair when he was a four-year-old child; he remembered the thirteen girls' names, who were in love with him in the kindergarten; he remembered to have been bombarded by a hundred owls on every Valentine's Day; and remembered having written a dozen books about deeds that he 'stole' from others. (Though he never mentioned this to Harry.)

However, he didn't remember a single day of his stay at Hogwarts, neither did he recall any of his students. He never even found Harry familiar.

Harry thought that he'd already have gone crazy in Gilderoy's place - always forgetting everything, always recalling new things - it had to drive one crazy.

Harry was happy, though, that Gilderoy didn't want to try another 'jump' in any of his remembering stages. He was sure that they'd get to Cairo much safer with the caravan. Harry simply didn't want to turn up in Namibia next time.

* * * * *

"…oh, and when I saw myself in the mirror, I told it: _'Mirror, mirror, on the wall, I'm the cutest guy of all_!' And it answered: _'I looove modest people… especially when they are as handsome as you…_' and then an eye appeared in the middle of the mirror, winking at me, followed by a text asking: _'Dinner tonight_?' Do you get it, kid? Granny's old mirror fell in love with me! But this case was nothing compared to my adventure with the sirens. You know, they are beautiful creatures - not as beautiful, as me, though - who live on an island and enchant people with their song. So, I was sailing on the Mediterranean Sea, when I heard their song… um, kid…?"

Harry had fallen asleep.

* * * * *

Next day the caravan set off for Cairo. Gilderoy never stopped complaining about the swaying of the camels that made him nauseous, and about the monkey that kept jumping on his head, tousling his neatly arranged locks. The monkey that was getting on is nerves, was the same that had attacked Harry with bananas. To Lockhart's sheer disgust, the boy had befriended the monkey and given him the name Abu. Abu was a very vigorous little being, full of mischief - he somehow reminded Harry of someone, but he didn't know whom. Once, when Lockhart shouted that he was fed up with 'that ugly, peeving banana-gobbling furball', Harry was struck by a familiar feeling. *Peeving?* he thought. Ha had no idea why, but he felt a bit strange.

* * * * *

A week later they arrived at Cairo and said thanks and good-bye to Ali.

"And now?" Harry asked. "How are we gonna find that friend of yours in such a huge city? Cairo has more than eight million inhabitants! Do you know which quarter he lives in?"

"Quarter? What quarter?" Gilderoy frowned. "He lives in Malahalla al Manah ul Yalla."

"Where?" Harry gaped.

"Malahalla… er, just call it Systematic Alley."

"Huh?"

"Come, and don't ask. You'll see." Lockhart smiled smugly. Harry decided to follow him, hoping and praying that no attack of amnesia would hit Gilderoy before they reach their destination. He didn't want to get lost in one of the biggest cities on Earth.

On their way through the streets and markets they were 'attacked' by thousands of merchants, wanting to sell them copper necklaces, earthen wares and strange-smelling food.

Harry kept shaking his head: "No, thanks, not hungry… no, I usually don't wear earrings… no, what could I use it for?"

Finally the queue began to thin and Harry was surprised to see that they'd reached the riverside.

"Er, Gilderoy, what are we doing here?" he asked. "Is your friend a fisherman, or what?"

"Nay, he's working at the _'Let's save the Pyramids from over-curious Muggles League'_."

"The what League?" Harry gaped. Lockhart had explained him what the word 'Muggle' meant, but he had never heard of a league with such a funny name.

"I'll tell you later." Gilderoy replied. "Come, we've got to get to the other bank of the Nile."

"The… the other bank?" 

"Yes, into the cemetery."

Harry frowned. Either Lockhart had gone mad, or this Mr. sun-Amun was a gravedigger

"I need your wand for a second." Gilderoy stated.

"Why?" Harry gulped. He didn't want to be transported to Guatemala by a mistaken swish of Lockhart's hand. He was aware, though, that he couldn't get themselves to the other bank. He had to trust Gilderoy - at least a bit.

Since they didn't have Muggle money, they couldn't ask a fisherman to carry them over the Nile. 

There was simply no other chance.

*Trust Gilderoy and pray.* Harry told himself and handed his wand to the blonde man. He squeezed his eyes shut and waited for a bang, and for some Papua-New-Guineans yelling that _dinner_ has just arrived.

Nothing like that happened.

"Okay, we're here." He heard Lockhart's voice and carefully opened his eyes. Abu the monkey let out a hysteric squeal.

They were in the middle of a huge cemetery. The tombs with the gloomy air around them made Harry have the feeling that he'd spent some time in such a place before. For a second he expected to see a cauldron among the gravestones, but couldn't explain, why. He didn't want to mention it to Gilderoy, though - Gilderoy would think of some beneficial effects of cemeteries on the skin of face, and Harry was definitely in no mood for listening to the _Lockhart-beauty-recipes_. 

"Okay, this is the one." The blonde man pointed at a crypt made of the same black stone as the obelisks around. He stepped to the door and knocked on it three times with Harry's wand.

Harry didn't know what to expect - a ghost telling them where to look for Mr. Sun-Amun, or rather a zombie with a scythe in the hand?

Neither of these appeared. No sooner had Lockhart knocked on the door, than it opened, leading them not into a dark crypt, but into a very noisy, full-of-colours street. As though the silence and gloominess of the graves had never even been there, Harry thought, stepping into the Malahalla al Manah ul Yalla, aka Systematic Alley. The magical gate behind their backs closed and disappeared, hiding its secret from the Muggle visitors of the Cairo cemetery.

"Now we only have to find 77. Systematic Alley. That's where Abysmal lives." Gilderoy turned to Harry, giving him his wand back.

Harry opened his mouth to reply, but no voice came out of it - he was too dumbfounded by the sight: the perfect image of a town from the Arabian Nights. On both sides of Systematic Alley merchants were offering their wares: not simple copper necklaces and spicy food, like in the Muggle Cairo, but flying carpets in all sizes and colours, turbans that changed their sizes according to he wearer's hat-size, talismans with the symbols of Isis, Thot, Osiris and all the other Egyptian gods, speaking replicas of Tutanhamon's death mask - available in three types: one that tells the exact time every half hour, one that keeps repeating ancient Egyptian curses, and one that knows all recipes of falafel (perfect gift for the wizarding housewives.) 

Harry was dazzled by the thousand different colours, voices and smells mingling in the air, and didn't even know where to turn, what to look at - there were too many things to see. One of the merchants was offering him a collection of scarab beetles, another wanted to sell him a bouquet of desert roses (allegedly cures diarrhoea), a third one was keen on selling him a colour-changing fez (available in Abu's size as well), a fourth one wanted to thrust one of his enchanted lamps upon Harry (the bigger lamps, that contained genies, were offered for 100 galleons each, the smaller - fake - ones with camel-ghouls were available for fifty sickles.)

"Did… did you see that?" Gilderoy turned to Harry, his voice trembling. He was clearly in a 'forgetting-stage' again. "Mum… mummified cats… where on earth are we?"

****

A/N2: see that pretty button below? Click on it and review!


	18. Dumbledore's shame

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A/N: thanks to everyone who reviewed!

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lemondrop: last time when you wrote aaaaahhhh (with much more "a"s and "h"s), I couldn't read my reviews properly, because they were too long to fit into the screen – I guess it was caused by those too many "a"s and "h"s, so please, next time you review, don't write this long words!

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Atalanta Zora: sorry, I didn't understand this sentence of yours: "what is with the 24 hour time?" What 24 hour??? Would you please explain it in a private mail? About the wedding you want so much: be patient, there will be one… or two… or three... You want Harry to be safe? Hey, Harry Potter cannot be safe until Voldemort is out there! Anyway, if I made sure he is safe, where would be the tension?

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maybe baby: sorry, Molly won't visit Ginny, but they'll be sending owls to each other. And you'll get lots of Ron and Hermione, don't worry!

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jennaration: sorry, no baby for Hermione in this story. Everyone cannot get pregnant – it would be really weird! (And you know, Hermione has more sense than to forget about using protection…)

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PepsiCola: why are they always watching Cartoon Network? Well, I thought Dudley was the kind of guy who would watch it day in day out… And the reason why the police officer also watched it is that there are so many policemen-jokes in which policemen are really stupid – thus I thought they'd watch cartoons. (I don't know whether people in the UK and US also have lots of jokes about silly policemen, but we in Hungary do.)

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joshs girl: I deliberately used the names from Disney's Aladdin – I love that movie, it used to be my fave movie when I was 12. I hope you don't mint that I borrowed Ali Ababwa and Abu a bit.

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Waldomier: I did watch the Mummy movie, but quite a long time ago. Anyway, I don't intend to learn to speak Egyptian, learning English and German were enough for me, thanks :-)

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hermione potter: in the footsteps of J.K. Rowling herself???? Oh, wow! Thanks!

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Tai's Gurl: when am I gonna explain Dumbledore's behaviour? At the end of the story, of course! Way to go!

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Zoozoonee: No, Lucius isn't dead. Yes, Gilderoy will find his friend, right in the next chapter.

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2Coolio: is it starting to hurt? Oh… sorry… it will hurt a bit more before they get together again. (But they will, of course.)

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anonymous: more about Ginny in chapter 20.

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the coffee fiend: is there still a favourite's list on ffnet? I thought there wasn't one anymore. (And yes, Star Wars is really cool, but IMHO Harry Potter is cooler :-)

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obi_ewan_maul_lover: Gilderoy was supposed to be annoying, so I'm glad that I managed to write him that way.

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Rab: I promise he will.

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anonomous: I promise to read your story as soon as I find time for it – nowadays I'm really busy with my studies – the exams are coming nearer and nearer…

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Jam2dabeat: the same for you as for _anonomous._ Anyway, sorry that you don't like Harry being lost, but I needed to make him lost so I could send him to Egypt where he'll find out something that will be very important at the end of the story.

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Yukito Forever: of course I haven't forgotten about Voldie! He's such a cool evil guy! Every real HP fic has to have some Voldemort stuff in it!

All right, enjoy and review!

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Chapter 18

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Dumbledore's shame

Ron, Hermione and Ginny were having breakfast at the Great Hall. Almost everyone had already left.

"I visited Hedwig before breakfast." Ginny said. "She is totally depressed… just like me." she added with a sigh.

"Sis…" Ron placed his hand on Ginny's shoulder, gently squeezing it. 

"It's okay, Ron. I'll manage it somehow." she forced herself to smile.

"Well, at least Dumbledore and McGonagall have finally returned." Hermione interjected, to cheer Ron and Ginny up a bit. "Snape isn't headmaster anymore."

"Uh-huh." Ron nodded, swallowing a huge chunk of transparent cheese (one of the latest development of Bertie Bott's: cheese with so many holes in it, that it seems totally see-through.) "But Lupin hasn't come back. We'll have to put up with Snape at DADA for who knows how long."

"Don't even mention that." Ginny sighed. "He never forgets to remind me of my condition and keeps hinting that Harry might never come back for me."

"That bastard! He enjoys other people's misery!" Ron snapped. 

"Yeah…" Hermione sipped a bit of pumpkin juice. "But he let me attend his classes again after I pleaded with him."

"Are you sure Snape was feeling well when he forgave you?" Ron raised an eyebrow. "He wouldn't do anything like that under normal circumstances, would he? He's such a… uh, I can't find words for it…" he fumed, turning to his sister. "No matter how much he hates Harry, he was still supposed to keep Harry's disappearance a secret!"

"A secret? I don't think so." They heard a mocking voice from behind.

"Beat it, Malfoy, you are taking my appetite!" Ron turned around.

"You won't feel like eating after you've read this." Draco threw him a newspaper, then left with the viciously chortling Crabbe and Goyle.

Ron unfolded the paper (with rather shaking hands), and all the three of them stared shocked at the headline:

**__**

THE BOY WHO GOT LOST - DUMBLEDORE'S BIG MISTAKE?

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By Rita Skeeter

"Rita? Already bad." Hermione sighed. "I should have kept that woman in the bottle."

They continued to read.

__

After having chased us, journalists away from Hogwarts, Professor Dumbledore wrote a letter to the young Potter to return to the school. The boy, however, never turned up again. According to a trustworthy source of information - a student of Hogwarts - Harry Potter simply got lost.

"A student?" Hermione raised an eyebrow.

"Malfoy." Ron growled.

__

How could that happen - we might ask, rightly.

Nobody knows. However, no owls are capable of finding Potter. (We suspect that some kind of dark magic is involved.)

And what has Dumbledore done about the case?

****

Nothing.

What could make Harry run away and not return? Could he be hexed, or is he only too much of a coward to shoulder responsibility for his acts? Whatever the truth is, it seems that poor Ginny Weasley won't have a father for her illegitimate child.

Normally journalists have to remain impartial, and never tell their own opinion about the cases, but I feel that I have to share mine this time.

"What a surprise." Ron frowned. "Up till now we haven't read anything else from her but HER opinion."

Hermione and Ginny nodded.

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I am in the firm belief that Potter's disappearance was due to the incompetent acting of Albus Dumbledore. Had he taken precautions, had he taken better care of his most famous student, - and first of all – had he not sent Harry away from Hogwarts, Harry would still be among us. But what else could we expect from someone who has the death of an innocent Muggle on his conscience?

The trio exchanged bewildered looks.

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Yes, dear readers, the time has finally come to reveal the past of Dumbledore - a past by far not as white as his name.

Sixty years ago Professor Dumbledore, transfiguration teacher at Hogwarts, had a secret liaison with a married woman, called Arabella Figg. Mrs. Figg was a witch, living with a Muggle husband in the town of Cokeworth. Poor Ben Figg had no idea that his wife was cheating on him with the - in those days - quite young and rather good-looking Albus Dumbledore. Getting to know that he had actually married a witch was a shock enough for him, but the cruel perception of the truth - Arabella having an affair with a wizard behind his back - was simply too much for the unfortunate Muggle. 

He chose to die.

We may be wondering whether Prof. Dumbledore has any idea of having been the cause of the death of Arabella's husband. Has Arabella kept it from him, not wanting her lover to have pangs of remorse or not wanting to risk Dumbledore's renown? We may never know – only one thing is sure: had the case been revealed back then, Dumbledore would never have been elected headmaster of Hogwarts.

After the incident, the young widow had to leave Cokeworth and moved to Little Winging, her current home. Some people swear to have heard some rumours about Arabella being pregnant (surely not with Ben Figg's child), but even if this had been true, no one seems to have heard about Mrs. Figg ever giving birth. Is there a secret child of Dumbledore's living somewhere?

That, precious readers, is likely to remain an unsolved riddle forever.

"I've been expecting something like this." Hermione spoke up.

"What? Dumbledore turning out to be a Don Juan?" Ron frowned.

"No." The girl shook her head. "Rita Skeeter's avenge."

"Do you think is was a revenge?" Ginny asked.

"Of course it was." Hermione replied matter-of-factly. 

"You really should have kept her in that bottle forever." Ginny sighed. "Poor Dumbledore. This will be a scandal almost as great as the one about Harry and me."

Ron nodded his agreement. "But at least this time no journalists will be swarming around here. They must still get the creeps from the sheer thought of Hagrid's Martians."

"Hopefully, yes." Hermione said. "But knowing their usual uninhibited behaviour, poor Professor Dumbledore will soon wish to have been castrated before he'd met Arabella Figg."

"Castrated?" Ron snickered. "Ya know, when I got to know what Harry'd done to my little sister, I also felt sorry that I hadn't castrated him back when…"

"When?" Ginny raised her eyebrows.

"Well, ya know… when he had had _the dream_."

"_The dream_?" the girls asked in unison.

"Um, yeah, a long story, though…" Ron stood up to leave, but his sister and girlfriend grabbed him by the arm and pulled him back.

"Out with it! We're curious!" Ginny demanded.

Suddenly Professor McGonagall's magically magnified voice spoke up: "All students gather into the Great Hall!"

"What the heck?" Ron stood up, grateful to McGonagall for saving him from this awkward situation. In the next instant the Great Hall filled with students 

Even if Ron had intended to tell the girls about Harry's _dream_, he wouldn't have been able to in such a cacophony.

He still vividly remembered it, though. It happened in fourth year, some time between the first and the second task. Ron, Dean and Seamus had already been wide-awake when Ron heard funny noises coming from behind the curtain of Harry's four-poster. He got curious and stepped closer. Now he managed to understand his best friend's mutterings: "Cho… oh, yes, Cho…"

Ron gingerly pulled back the curtain to see Harry tossing and turning in his sleep, a bulge clearly visible on the front of his pants. Ron smirked and let the curtain back, turning to the Thomas-Finnigan duo.

"Why are you wearing such an idiotic grin?" Seamus asked.

Ron let out a chuckle. "Harry's just become a MAN."

"What?" the two boys' faces lit up. "Really?"

"Bet your ass. I've just seen it." Ron replied.

"Who could he be dreaming about?" Dean wondered.

"Cho Chang, who else?" Ron answered.

"I thought he fancied Hermione." Seamus commented.

"Hermione? Nay." Ron suddenly turned red.

"Hey, what does that blush mean?" Dean smirked wickedly. 

"_I_ dreamt about Hermione." Ron admitted, his face already as red as his hair.

"You dreamt about her _that_ _way_?" Seamus sneered. 

Ron couldn't get a complexion rosier than that. "Yup."

"Wheeen?" the duo asked.

"Um, after the Yule ball." Ron couldn't help chuckling himself.

"That's self-explanatory." Dean nodded. "She did look bitchin that evening. Shame that she was with Krum."

"Yeah." Ron sighed. He still couldn't forgive Hermione for having gone with the Bulgarian seeker. He regarded it as a personal offend. "Okay, let's drop the topic. What about you two? Have you had _the dream_?"

Dean chortled idiotically. "Halloween night. About Fleur Delacour."

"Alicia, last year." Seamus added.

"What are you talking about?" came Neville's sleepy voice from the other end of the dorm.

"About girls we dreamed of." Dean replied. "Have you also dreamt of one, Neville?"

The stout boy slipped into his slippers, rubbing his eyes. "Yeah. Once… about Ginny." he yawned.

"What??? My sister?" Ron howled. A wonder that Harry didn't wake up. "How dare you?"

"Dare what?" Neville looked shocked by Ron's sudden outburst. "I only dreamed that she was wearing…"

"…nothing?" Seamus helped eagerly.

"Noooo." Neville shook his head. "Why would she wear nothing? She was wearing something dazzling white, as though it had been made of snowflakes, or something. And she had gems in her hair… sparkling like ice crystals. She looked wonderfully beautiful and extremely happy… her green eyes were shining with happiness."

"Green?" Ron furrowed his brow. "Ginny has brown eyes."

"In my dream she had green eyes." Neville shrugged. "I clearly remember. She was smiling, and… she was getting married, I guess."

"To _you_?" Ron raised an eyebrow.

"No." Neville sighed. "To Harry."

All the other three boys burst out laughing. 

"Have I told something funny?" Neville asked, confused. The others kept chortling.

"Nothing, Neville, nothing." Dean replied. "C'mon, boys, let's get dressed and go down. Harry'll need some privacy when he wakes up." he winked.

"Yeah, for reaching the bathroom unnoticed…" Seamus added. "He surely won't let Dobby wash his pants today."

Now the three boys were in stitches, a bewildered Neville looking from one to the other, having no idea what could be so funny.

As the four boys left the dorm, Ron felt grateful that Harry didn't wake up from their laughter. But Harry marrying Ginny… seemed to be totally absurd to him – at that time.

Now, that he recalled this memory, it didn't seem so ridiculous anymore, only somewhat weird. He wasn't sure though, whether that wedding would ever take place, given the circumstances.

He was shaken out of his reveries when the headmaster entered the Great Hall.

"I'm sure he's summoned us to repudiate Rita's accusations." Hermione whispered.

"I don't know, Herm, he looks so… sullen." Ginny commented. "His look is as cold as ice… gives me the creeps."

Professor Dumbledore waved his hand to silence the students. The Great Hall became so quiet that even the buzzing of a fly could have been heard.

Ron glanced at Malfoy who was standing at the Slytherin table, wearing a smug, satisfied grin.

"I presume most of you have already read the _Daily Prophet_ this morning." Dumbledore started, his voice hoarse and baleful. "If you have, then you already know about three news. Two of them need confirmation, one has to be refuted."

"Told you he couldn't have flirted with that woman." Ron heard Seamus whisper to Dean.

Dumbledore continued: "First of all, yes, Harry Potter is really lost."

A loud murmur ran down the hall.

"Potter lost?"

"Where's he?"

"What happened to him?"

"But he'll be back, won't he?"

"Is he dead?"

Dumbledore raised his wand, sending red sparks onto the ceiling. "May I continue? Thank you. So, as I've said, Harry got lost. No one knows, what happened to him, but the owls just cannot find him. Usually evil curses have such effects, but we can't be sure that this case has anything to do with them or not. Of course, our Rita Skeeter suspects curses everywhere, but I hope you know her enough not to trust everything she writes."

Many of the pupils nodded, even some bad words about Ms. Skeeter could be heard.

Ron looked at Draco again. The pale boy was still looking contented or even more than that: happy. Ron clenched his fists, stifling an urge to throttle Malfoy.

Dumbledore spoke up again: "So, Rita Skeeter was right that our Harry was missing, but blaming me for his disappearance is unacceptable and unjust. She had no reason to suppose that my, um, 'incompetence' was to be blamed. Her declaration that I've done nothing about the case is also absurd. Professor McGonagall, Professor Lupin and me had a good reason to leave the school for a while: we have contacted many of our wizard colleagues all over Great Britain and even in other countries, to look for Harry. We'll find him. Professor Lupin is actively working on the case."

The headmaster let out a sigh. "And now, to the other part of my speech. As you have read in the article, Ms. Skeeter accuses me of having contributed to the death of a certain Benjamin Figg. I deny it. Figg committed suicide. I'm truly sorry for that man, but don't feel responsible for his death. Everyone is responsible for his or her own acts, and if he chooses to kill himself, then it is his own responsibility. However, I will never deny having had romantic feelings for Arabella Figg."

"Does it man that you really have a child together?" a Rawenclaw yelled.

A grim smile appeared on Dumbledore's face. "No. Arabella wasn't capable of having babies. In my opinion this fact strongly contributed to Mr. Figg's suicide. As I heard, he had married her to have children. He was truly broken-down, when he got to know that his wife couldn't give him an heir." Dumbledore shook his head. "A weak man, he was."

"Did Rita Skeeter only make up this child-thing, then?" Ernie MacMillan asked.

"Very much so, Mr. MacMillan." Albus replied with a faint smile. 

In Ron's opinion he looked extremely worn and full of sorrow. *He explained Skeeter's article, hasn't he? No one here thinks he is guilty. Why is he so sad then?*

Abruptly one of the doors of the Great Hall flung open, and Sirius Black burst in.

"Albus, enough is enough!" his eyes were sending fire-bolts at Dumbledore. "Would you explain why I had to get to know about my godson's disappearance from the newspaper? I thought you trusted me more than to keep this from me! I thought you regarded me as your friend! You should have notified me at once! This was your task as a headmaster!"

"A headmaster?" Dumbledore gave him a wistful smile. "I'm sorry, Sirius. I'm no headmaster anymore. Just received an owl from the Ministry of Magic. They accuse me of having been the cause of Harry's disappearance, since it was me who had sent him back to Privet Drive. And well… they might be right about this." Albus heaved a deep sigh. "They demand that I resign."

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A/N2: there, you got a bit of Sirius! And now, review, please!!!


	19. Diagnoses

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A/N: first of all: for questions like _"will Harry go back to Ginny?"_ _"Will he get his scar and memories back?"_ and "_will Dumbledore come back?"_ I can give you only one answer: the story will have a happy end. I can't reveal more. (Especially not the gender and the name of the child – let it be a surprise.) Anyway, thanks for all the reviews!

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Zenon Lee: Congratulations! You were the first who managed to realise that there was a domino effect in my story. (And a big thanks for writing that I'm among of those few who can rise up to Rowling!)

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Reemaski: part of the article was true, another part wasn't. Dumbledore told it to the students in his speech.

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Ariana Black: why is the Ministry so full of idiots? No idea, but Rowling wrote it that way, so I just did the same.

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Hermione Gulliver: no, Sirius isn't wanted any more – I mentioned it in… chapter 4 or 5, I'm not sure. Now he is working together with Arthur Weasley – but it won't be important in the story.

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PadmeSkywalker: sorry, I am letting Dumbledore leave. (But squashing Rita by someone's foot is really a good idea – though I'll deal with her another, not so spectacular way.)

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Vanilla: how did I come up with it? Dunno… ideas just come to me…

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gurlie409: of course Dumbledore is important! Don't ever think that I'm writing him out of the story! No way!!! You wrote that the thing about Egypt didn't make sense. Well, it will. Trust me, it will – you have no idea how much it will!

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Hermione Granger: I'm glad that you found the dream hilarious. Does Ginny look too calm? Just wait until next chapter!!!

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Super saya-Jin Gotan: no, Nagini won't be catching freezbees in mid-air. (Snakes cannot hop up from the ground, can they?) Thanks for you compliment on the story-line. You asked whether I planned it or improvised – well, of course I planned it! I spent many summer-nights sleepless, thinking about the plot.

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Cindy Moon: in next chapter (this one won't have Ginny in it), Ginny will be almost three months pregnant.

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Blaubärin ((are you German???)): yes, I am aware that the romance between Harry and Ginny developed too fast, but I couldn't leave more time for it, because this wasn't supposed to be a sappy love story, but a story with adventure, mystery and a bit of love. I also cannot really imagine Ginny seducing Harry, but I'd rather imagine her doing it than Harry. (Harry is just toooooo moral… he needed to be seduced, because he wouldn't initiate anything like that… and of course they needed to have a baby – that was my first idea when I decided to write this story. I told myself: "hey, make them conceive a baby, then just let it make a chain-reaction!" – And that's what I did.)

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Basilisk: yes, Dumbledore did have a reason to act like that, but you might be disappointed now, that you have reached chapter 19, and I still haven't explained it. Be patient, I will explain it at the end of the story. 

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the coffee fiend: was the introduction of Lockhart a master stroke? *blushes* ((What does your HP cloak look like????))

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Little Witch: in this chapter you'll get lots of Harry and Lockhart :-)

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Chelsea: you don't think that Mrs. Weasley would send Harry a howler? Why not? She sent one to Ron, and all Ron did was fly a car. Harry - on the other side – impregnated her only daughter. I think she had all reasons to send him a howler.

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joshs girl: good, we are both Aladdin fans! *big smile*

All right, in this chapter I'll be referring to The Mummy in certain ways, so I have to write the usual stuff: _I don't own The Mummy, blah, blah, blah_…

Enjoy!

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Chapter 19

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Diagnoses

The door of 77, Systematic Alley, opened to reveal a blue, ghost-like being, wearing armlets on his wrists.

"Um, hello." Harry greeted the bluish creature. "We're looking for Mr. Abysmal sun-Amun."

"English? You're speaking English!" the blue one yelled, clasping his hands with glee. "Finally someone whom I can talk to in English! Last year we had a French visitor, an exchange student from Beauxbatons! Oh, you can't imagine how wonderful it was for me to chat with her in French! And five years ago that Japanese sorcerer shogun… wow, it was cool! I love foreigners!"

"Abdul!" an irritated female voice came from behind the over-talkative creature. "I've told you several times to hold your tongue, you big blue oaf! You keep threatening guests away!" Abdul, the servant was suddenly pushed aside by an 18 or 19-year-old girl.

"Good evening, travellers, who have come from a faraway place." the girl bowed slightly. "I've heard you were British."

"Er, yeah." Harry shrugged. "Ms…"

"You may call me Sunny." the girl smiled, her black eyes glinting vividly. "Oh, come in, please, both of you."

"Gilderoy!" Harry turned to the blonde man, who was still muttering something about mummified cats.

"Huh?"

"Come, we are going in." the boy waved his hand. Lockhart followed him with an expression that suggested that he was not all there.

As they entered the house, Harry thought to have stepped into the magical cave of Aladdin. Persian carpets were lying everywhere, golden bowls and plates standing on every table and cupboard, pinkish and blue – almost see-through – veils hanging from the ceiling, and funny violet smoke filling the air.

"This way." the young woman told them. Abdul clapped his blue hands twice, and a door, decorated with golden sphinxes, opened.

"You may go now, Abdul. Prepare dinner for three."

As the blue being left, the girl sat down on a sofa. "Have a seat, please, dear visitors." she pointed her finger at another sofa that was covered with soft ornamental cushions.

Harry and Gilderoy sat down.

"I have to apologise for Abdul's behaviour." the girl said. "He's our house genie. Before us he belonged to some wizard who spent all his life drawing maps of the whole world. He took Abdul on his journeys and simply spoiled him. Now Abdul is constantly complaining that our family never leaves Egypt, thus he never has an opportunity to brush up on his Enlgish, French, Italian, Greek, Swaheli, Eskimo and Zulu. Please, don't get mad at him." she smiled.

"Oh, never." Harry replied. He wasn't expecting having to talk to an Egyptian witch (if Sunny was one at all), and a real genie. "Um, I guess we haven't even introduced ourselves yet. My friend is Gilderoy Lockhart, and he has selective amnesia. Now he is in the forgetting stage, but he might regain some of his memories any time. I don't remember my name, since I have total amnesia."

"And that's why you've come here." the girl gave them a knowing look.

Harry nodded. "Abu, stop that!" the monkey was just about to steal a banana.

"Oh, just let him have it!" Sunny smiled. "Back to your problem… I know that you've come to see my father, but he isn't here at the moment. He is working by the Great Pyramid and won't be back in the next two months. But I can take you to him if you wish."

"Would you do us the favour?" Harry asked.

"Of course."

"Really?" Gilderoy yelled. "We are saved, kid!"

"Just regained his memories – partially, hasn't he?" Sunny asked. She was familiar with such cases, since her father was the most famous international 'memory-back-lurer'.

"We are going to set off tomorrow morning." the girl said. "Abdul will take care of the house."

Harry heard a loud bang. Abdul has just dropped the golden plates filled with falafel. The genie was immediately 'rewarded' by a furious look of his young mistress.

"I'm sorry, Mistress Sunny." he trembled. "I'm going to make another dinner." he waved his blue hands, and the ruins of the dinner disappeared. Another wave with his hands, and the plates were clean again. A third wave and they were again filled with food.

Harry saw not only shame on the genie's blue face, but sorrow, too.

Poor Abdul, if they were to leave for Gizah the following day, the genie would be left without a chat-partner again.

* * * * *

Gilderoy was already fast asleep when Harry was still awake, standing on the small balcony of the sun-Amun house, gazing at the lights of Systematic Alley, and its side streets: Aton-amun Alla, Thot-Seth-Yallah and Nehbet-Ellah-Tefnut – aka. Theoretic Alley, Majestic Alley and Basic Alley. Every now and then he saw dark silhouettes fly by: wizards and witches returning from their workplaces on their magical carpets. Some of them held wands in their hands with a small light at the end (Harry felt proud that he knew this charm, and he'd got the trick of it without anyone's help.) These illuminated flying carpets reminded him of small planes with their landing lights aglow. 

"Nice view, isn't it?" a voice interrupted his thoughts.

"Yes, very nice." he smiled at sun-Amun's daughter. "Um, may I ask something?"

The girl nodded.

"Why are you called Sunny? It's an English word."

"Yeah, it is. I spent a year in Great Britain when I was a child. My father had to take part in a several months long international conference of wizards, held in the Ancient Magical Relic Department of your Ministry of Magic."

Harry raised an eyebrow. The expression 'Ministry of Magic' didn't sound strange to him – he must have heard it somewhere before, but he'd surely never heard of an Ancient Magical Relic Department.

"What does that department do?" he asked.

"Its task is to keep the Muggles from finding out anything about the magical properties of the ancient wizard relics they happen to find in the tombs. Also certain buildings belong to this category, for example Stonehenge in your country, those big face-statues on the Easter Islands, and the pyramids here. Dad is member of the _Let's Save the Pyramids from Over-Curious Muggles League_."

"Yes, I've heard about that league. Gilderoy told me. Is it difficult to protect the pyramids from the Muggles?"

The girl shrugged. "Sometimes… when they get too curious and decide to raid the pharaoh tombs. They've found 62 tombs in the Valley of the Kings, but 73 others are still unharmed – thanks to the good hiding charms of daddy and his comrades. When Howard Carter found the tomb of Tutanhamon, the _Let's Save the Pyramids League_ was on strike, demanding higher wages from the local Ministry of Magic. None of them was protecting the Valley of the Kings during the strike - that's why Carter managed to find the tomb. After the strike my grandfather and three of his colleagues wanted to cast a memory charm on Carter and the other Egyptologists and hide the tomb again, but the news of the discovered tomb spread by light-speed, and of course grandpa couldn't wipe the memory of the whole Muggle society… Nowadays father is trying to protect the Kufu Pyramid from the raiders. A hard work it is." she stifled a yawn. "Oh, I'm so sleepy. You'd better also lie down, our carpet sets off 6 in the morning."

"Is it a regular flight or a charter one?"

"Neither. We are using our own carpet."

"Why do we have to go so early, then?" Harry wanted to know.

"Because two hours after sunrise the weather will be unbearably hot."

"Oh, of course." the boy nodded. He'd had enough of the heat back in the middle of the Sahara. "You still haven't answered my original question. Why is your name Sunny? It doesn't sound too Arabic to me."

"Oh, that…" she giggled. "My real name is Anck-sun-Amun. The Sunny comes from the middle-name, that's so simple."

"Anck-sun-Amun…" Harry repeated the name. He'd read it before – on a card in a chocolate frog, but of course didn't remember it.

"Yeah, one of my predecessors, about 4000 years ago had the same name. She was the pharaoh's wife, who had a passionate love affair with the high-priest Imhotep. Of course Anck-sun-Amun was a witch, and Imhotep was a wizard. When the pharaoh got Imhotep killed and cursed with the mummy-curse, he had no idea that it wasn't the real Imhotep he got cursed, only a decoy. The real high-priest and his lover escaped from Egypt and settled down in Greece. Their descendants founded the Delphic oracle. My ancestors came back here only a millennium ago. That's the big story. Now go and have some sleep."

"Okay, good night, Sunny."

* * * * *

Next morning – dawn, to be exact – the little trio (plus a monkey) set off for Gizah. Harry had never flown on a carpet before, and enjoyed it tremendously.

"Carpets are widely used in the Moslem wizarding world," Anck-sun-Amun explained, "but England has recently placed a ban on carpet imports, I heard."

"Why?" Harry asked, truly interested in everything that could fly.

"Why, why… because they are silly, that's why. They cannot appreciate a nice carpet woven with the handiwork of a hundred diligent witches… they prefer those ugly brooms!"

Harry didn't know what to answer – he didn't want to hurt Sunny's feelings.

During the rest of their flight, they were having a small talk about the weather (dry, absolutely no rain, hot, hot, hot, sweltering, unbearable), while Gilderoy kept complaining about having had to get up so early (I'll have dark shadows under my eyes!)

Harry and the girl exchanged amused glances. When Lockhart was about to start a lecture on the desert's negative effects on one's skin, the carpet braked sharply, and Gilderoy almost fell off it.

"What the…" 

"Oh, we've just arrived at the gate of the tunnel." Sunny replied.

They were hovering before the entrance of a huge cave, at least two hundred other carpets floating in front of them. There were small ones – developed for one person only, and official ones too – one place for the driver, another for the interpreter (if needed), and a V.I.P. seat for distinguished guests. Some of the carpets were family transports – ribbons hanging from their fringes, Arabic words written on them.

"What does that funny text on the ribbons mean?" Harry got curious.

"It says _baby on board_." the girl answered. "Well, now we have to wait for about three hours to get through the tunnel." 

"Three hours???" Gilderoy panicked. "Dark caves do no good to my skin!"

"Why do we have to fly through this tunnel?" Harry asked.

"Because this is the only way to arrive at the pyramids without getting noticed by the Muggles. The tunnel ends in a huge garage, where we can park the carpet and go outside looking like normal people. The Muggles have never noticed this cave, and charms are constantly used to see to it, that it never ever happens."

Three hours in the tunnel, moving only inch by inch forward, takes the edge off the best wizards, too, so the trio (plus a monkey) soon got bored and drowsy.

"What about playing a game of Exploding Snap?" Sunny suggested.

"Exploding Snap?" Harry looked up. "I've heard about that, I guess…"

"Of course you have." Gilderoy yawned. "You're a wizard. Told you that, haven't I?" he began arranging his locks – they looked pretty dishevelled. Desert seemed to have a bad influence on his skin and hairdo, either.

After four games of Snap, they heard some terrible noise coming from the opposite direction. The source of the terrible noise was a shocking pink bird perched on a carpet that whooshed past them at a tremendous speed. It had a flag with a red cross floating behind it.

((A/N: I don't know whether the Arabs have the red cross sign at all, or they have a red crescent moon or what… never mind, read on.))

"What was this?" Harry yelled, his hands pressed tightly on his ears.

"Thaaaat?" Anck-sun-Amun shouted back, her hands also on her ears. "It was a fwooper! A terrible bird with a terrible voice! They are usually sold with muting hexes, but some of them are used as sirens on ambulance-carpets." ((A/N: for fwooper see reference in Fantastic beasts and where to find them.))

"Aha…" Harry nodded as the sound of the fwooper died away. "What happened to that guy they were carrying in such a rush?"

"Oh…" the girl heaved a deep sigh. "I suppose it was the _Cruciatus_ again… it happens daily now that You-Know-Who has regained his powers…"

"Cruciatus? You-Know-Who?" Harry looked bewildered. He didn't remember either of them.

"Let me explain…" Anck-sun-Amun began.

* * * * *

Twenty minutes later they finally arrived at an underground hangar.

They got off the carpet (Gilderoy needed to be yanked off it, since he asserted that dark caverns weren't as bad for his skin as the open Sahara air, and he'd rather wait for Abysmal in the hangar.)

Before going outside, Sunny put a padlock-charm on their carpet (even wizards were sometimes tempted to make off with each other's transports.)

As they stepped out of the cave (its exit camouflaged by an invisibility charm from the eyes of curious Muggles), an incredible sight appeared before Harry's eyes.

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The Great Pyramids.

For a moment he only stood there, his mouth agape. He'd never seen anything this majestic before. (Though he had a feeling that he'd seen these ancient buildings somewhere else than on the _Newsweek_'s pages. He just couldn't remember, where and when.)

"Like it?" the girl smiled.

"It's breathtaking." Harry replied. "Isn't it, Gilderoy?"

"Hmmm, they look good…" Lockhart said. "Almost as good as me."

The boy and the girl (plus the monkey) rolled their eyes.

"We'd better find your dad and tell him to give Gilderoy his memories back, because I don't think I could endure him any longer." Harry whispered to Anck-sun-Amun.

They walked past a range of bazaars (selling small pyramids, sphinxes and greeting cards for Muggles tourists), and entered the very last – and largest – tent. Merchants there seemed to be selling stuffed camels and fezes in all sizes and colours.

Sunny tiptoed to one of the merchants and covered his eyes with her hands from behind.

"Guess, who?" she snickered.

"Sunny! You little wildcat, what are you doing here?" the man laughed, turned around and gathered the girl's lithe body into a bear-like hug.

"Just dropped in, daddy." she smiled. "And brought two people, who need your help. One of them is allegedly your friend."

That was when Abysmal sun-Amun noticed Harry and Lockhart standing at the entrance of the tent.

"Gilderoy!" he yelled gleefully.

Lockhart blinked. "Who?"

"Amnesia?" Abysmal analysed the situation at once. "Hm, I see. Come in, my friend, have a seat. You too, young man." he beckoned to Harry.

Abysmal spent the rest of the day examining the cases of Lockhart and Harry. He sent his colleagues to 'take care' of his beloved pyramids for him.

After hours and hours of discussion with his two 'patients', Mr. sun-Amun managed to draw the conclusions.

"Well, dear Gilderoy, you don't need to worry at all. It seems to me that you'd been hit by a memory charm that you implemented with your own hands. Only when a memory charm falls back on its originator, does it cause amnesia like yours. I presume you didn't remember anything at first, and only later on did some pieces of memory start to come back. Am I right?"

Lockhart, who had got past his 'forgetting-stage' at about noon, nodded. "Exactly, Abys. Can you help me?"

"Of course I can." the other man assured him. "You'll have to stay here for a couple of months, though, for a thorough and gradual therapy. By spring, my friend, you'll remember everything. You should have come to me earlier."

"I would have," Gilderoy shrugged, "had I remembered you earlier."

"And… and me?" Harry asked.

Sunny's father turned to the boy, his smile immediately disappearing.

"Is it _that_ bad?" Harry frowned, being able to read in facial expressions.

"A difficult case it is, my boy."

"Why?"

"I am convinced that you had been poisoned by the _Teih-Nessegrev potion_."

"And what does it mean in other words?" Harry queried, his voice trembling. He didn't have great expectations anymore.

"It means that I cannot help you." Abysmal sighed. "I'm sorry. This is a very mighty potion – the most difficult combination of a curse and a magic brew. It has no antidote, only one single remedy…"

"What?" Harry cut in.

"The _Cruciatus curse_…" sun-Amun sighed, and all the others in the tent gasped, "…implemented by…"

"By whom?" Harry asked with a pale face.

"By your best friend, son… your very best friend."


	20. The girl, who will...

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A/N: I'm absolutely happy today! Although the film doesn't come to Hungary until 13 December, I bought the tickets today!!! I'm over-delighted by it, really! I can imagine myself laughing in the faces of all the people who won't get tickets because they weren't quick enough. All right, I just wanted to tell you how happy I am. 

And now to the reviews: people, you've set a new record! I haven't received this many reviews for a chapter before! Big thanks!

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mrs kavaitis: I didn't _steal scenes_ from Aladdin – I only _borrowed names_ (and definitely not scenes). No copyright infringement was intended – the reason why I borrowed those names was that I WANTED TO show how much I love and respect Aladdin that used to be my favourite movie when I was a child. It was the first movie that became my favourite, so by including Ali Ababwa and Abu I saluted Aladdin. Anyway, I'm not making the story sad, and although it would be nice to make Abysmal fix Harry's memories right now, I wouldn't be able to carry on with the story-line the way I wanted to, if Harry got back his memories. (He will, of course, but not yet.)

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HermioneAngel: Harry won't need to remember who his best friend is – trust me, he won't.

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Caroline: you think that Harry has been through enough already? Oh, no he hasn't. There are lost of things in store for him before this story ends…

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Pepsi: don't worry, I'll be writing for a while (I can assure you that I'll be posting this story until the end of this year.) You asked, why I liked Malfoy. Well, I have a knack of liking the silly and/or evil characters of the stories. For example I do love Darth Vader. (But don't like Palpatine or Voldemort. They are way too evil for my taste.)

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PepsiCola: no idea whether Abysmal sun-Amun means anything in Arabic. The family name Sun-Amun comes from the Mummy, that's all I can tell you about it.

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Hermione Granger: I'm happy that you think that everyone is in character – some people say the opposite. (But I don't care for them, lol)

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gurlie409: I'm glad that you think that the whole thing about Egypt is starting to make sense – though it won't really make sense until you read chapter 21. That will be a pivotal chapter.

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hermioneqc: you asked (as all others) when Harry will remember who he is. I promise it'll happen before the year 2001 ends… (if there won't be another long break caused by ffnet, of course.)

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myr_halcyon: you asked who will curse Harry – Ginny, Ron or Hermione? Well, just one thing: Ginny ISN'T Harry's FRIEND. She is his lover.

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Mistoffelees: of course Ron is still his best friend, but he doesn't remember Ron.

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Amen: the same for you as for HermioneAngel. They won't need to find out that Ron is Harry's best friend. Not telling you any more.

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Pampered Tigeress: of course they will cure him, but not today, and not even tomorrow. Be patient!

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obi_ewan_maul_lover: Harry dying??? No way! No fanfic author has the right to kill off our hero!

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JiayileeJL: how Ginny hasn't found out if the child is going to be a boy or a girl? Simple: muggles have those detectors (I don't know what they are called in English), but wizards don't. And I assumed that there was no magic that could tell you the gender of your future child. You also asked what the Cruciatus curse was. It is one of the "unforgivable curses", that means if you cast it on someone, you'll get into Azkaban. Cruciatus is a curse with which you can torture someone. (Look up the 14th chapter of HP and the goblet of fire, you'll find a detailed description of the curse there.)

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the coffee fiend: do you have a wand? Lol. I also have one… two… they are just sticks from a hazel bush, but I call them "wands".

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Zoozoonee: it won't be important whether Draco knows the cure of the potion or not.

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pudadingding: don't worry, I'm not sending Ron to Azkaban! You asked whether they could give Harry a temporary name. I must admit that I've been giving thoughts to this, but eventually decided against it. If they want Harry to listen to them, they'll just yell: "hey, you there!" *just kidding*

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Claire Thorpe: thanks for being such an enthusiastic reviewer! I promise to read your fic as soon as I find some time for it.

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Ericka: I think it really would be funny if the seventh book dealt with Ginny getting pregnant, but as far as I know JK, she is way too moral to write stuff like that. (And remember: HP is supposed to be a children's book, so no sex – not even implied sex – is permissible). Anyway, don't worry about the length of the story – it won't be as long as GoF, although almost as long as the third HP book. You also wrote that the story needed more of Ginny – there, you have it! This chapter is an entirely Ginny chapter!

Enjoy and don't forget to review!

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Chapter 20

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The girl, who will…

Dumbledore's announcement shocked all the students. Ron and Hermione couldn't find their voices from surprise. As they left the Gryffindor table, Ron saw tears appear in the girl's eyes.

He put a hand around her and pulled her into a firm embrace.

"He cannot go…" Hermione mumbled. "What will Hogwarts be like without him?"

"He'll come back, don't worry." Ron whispered into her hair. "He came back in second year, too, remember?."

"That was a totally different case." Hermione answered. "At that time only his competence was being questioned, but now his honour, too. He _has_ admitted having had a relationship with that woman… he cannot back out anymore. Anyway, this is not why he had to resign… it was because of Harry. You know those fools in the Ministry of Magic… they blame poor old Dumbledore."

"You are being pessimistic." Ron shook his head, not feeling too optimistic himself, either.

As they exited the Great Hall, they heard mutterings like:

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"That Mrs. Figg had to be cool if Dumbledore had the hots for her."

"I can't believe that Harry is really lost."

"Of course he isn't. He is just hiding from the wrath of the Weasleys."

"And well he should be… he brought about the greatest scandal of Hogwarts history!"

"Both of them deserved what they got. Potter has always thought too much of himself. And Dumbledore shouldn't have gone whoring with some wretched Muggle's wife."

The latter voice belonged to Draco, of course. Ron felt like giving him a blow in the face, but Hermione held him back.

They walked past Pansy Parkinson and Millicent Bulstrode (the fat girl was sobbing her heart out). Neither Ron, nor Hermione had ever seen her cry.

"What got into her?" Hermioned wondered.

"No idea." Ron shrugged. "I never thought a Slytherin could be so sad about Dumbledore's departure."

When they reached the entrance of the Gryffindor common room, they saw many students – a very upset Ginny included – standing there and waiting for something.

"What's up?" Ron asked.

"The Fat Lady's gone." Ginny answered, her whole body trembling.

Ron let go of Hermione's hand and embraced his little sister. At that moment Ginny let out the tension that had been almost choking her, and burst out crying.

"It's okay… it's okay…" he stroked her hair, trying to soothe her.

"No, it's NOT okay! Nothing is okay!" Ginny shouted. "Harry's gone! He might never come back! I'm stranded here with a child who I'll have to bring up alone, since no one in this damned wizarding world can find its father! Those assholes who assert being employees of the Ministry of Magic sit on their laurels and scratch their toes, but don't do anything to find Harry! Now even Dumbledore is gonna leave us! And you tell me that it's _okay_???" her eyes were throwing fire-bolts at her brother.

"Ginny," Hermione stepped to her, "you're talking as though everything was Ron's fault. You are being unjust to your brother who only wanted to comfort you."

"It's not me who is unjust! It's life that is unjust to ME!" the redheaded girl yelled, burying her face into her hands.

Abruptly some kind of singing broke the awkward silence that had ensued between Ginny and Hermione.

Who the hell felt like singing in such a desperate situation – besides Malfoy?

The singing became louder – sometimes interrupted by a hiccup – and the Fat Lady stumbled into her portrait. 

She was clearly staggering, an empty bottle of champagne in her hand. She tried to sit down on her chair, but missed, and seated herself on the floor, instead. Now, only her head visible at the bottom of the picture-frame, she yelled at the students:

"Wha're ya waitin' for?"

"You!" the Gryffindors shouted in chorus. None of them was in any mood to deal with a drunken Fat Lady, who chuckled: "I've… I've been off to… celebrate."

"_Celebrate_?" Ginny snapped. "Are you happy that Harry's lost and Dumbledore's gone?"

"Whaaaat?" the Fat Lady blinked. "I've been at Violet's wedding." 

"Violet's wedding?" Seamus raised an eyebrow. "Who was stupid enough to marry that hag?"

"Why… Sir Cadogan, of course." the Fat Lady giggled, and with a final hiccup, disappeared under the chair.

Not much later Professor McGonagall appeared on the corridor, wearing a scowl.

"What are you all doing here?" she asked.

"The Fat Lady knocked herself out and cannot let us in." Hermione answered.

"Knocked herself out?" Minerva knitted her eyebrows.

"Got drunk." Parvati explained.

"Argggh, now that, too." McGonagall fumed. "Okay, everyone, go to your classes."

"To classes?" Lavender gaped. "But professor… how could we pay attention to the lectures after... after all these?"

Minerva let out a sigh and her strict expression seemed to soften a bit.

"All right, then. I'll try to bring the Fat Lady to her senses." she stated, raising her wand. "_Antialcoholicus_!"

The charm seemed to take effect, since the chair in the portrait creaked as its occupant pulled herself up to her knees. "Pass…woooord?"

"Ah, the very new one, huh? _Avada Kedavra_." the professor said, and the Fat Lady collapsed as if she had died. Some of the students shrieked.

"Enough of this! You gave me this password an hour ago, remember?" Minerva shouted.

"Hicc… sure." the Fat Lady sat up, clearly enjoying terrifying the students. The portrait hole slowly opened.

Almost all of the students disappeared into the common room when a joyous voice filled the corridor:

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Naughty Albus Dumbledore,

Who thought you had a whore?

Poor professor Dumbledore,

You've always been such a bore!

You have screwed up, Dumbledore,

We are fed up with your lore!

Ex-headmaster Dumbledore,

Out with you, there's the door!

"Peeves!" Minerva shouted indignantly. "Hold your big mouth!"

"Blah-blah-blah…" the poltergeist chortled. "You won't take my good mood, crazy old spinster!"

Professor McGonagall's eyes got red with anger. "You… you…"

Peeves stuck out his tongue at the professor, and started another song:

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Potter, that rotter, what has he done?

He knocked up Ginny, and now he's gone!

Potter, the rotter, he's a bad boy,

But I bet that he had lots of joy!

Didn't he, Ginny? Sure you can tell,

Don't deny that he screwed you like hell!

"Peeves!" now McGonagall was totally exasperated. "SHUT UP!"

The poltergeist stuck his tongue out once more and disappeared. Minerva turned around to see four students still outside the portrait hole – one of them was Ginny Weasley.

"Ginny…" the professor stepped closer, but the girl suddenly turned on her heels and ran away.

"Weasley, come back!" McGonagall shouted after her, but she didn't hear it. As if blind and deaf, she ran downstairs, through the gate, out into the park. She didn't even realise how freezing it was, didn't care in which direction she was running, just ran as fast as her legs could carry her.

Half and hour later fatigue took possession of her body, and she collapsed onto the ground, still sobbing and quivering. Her robes quickly got soaked by the snow, and sweat froze on her eyebrows.

She sat there for about ten minutes when she heard some strange, out-of-place noise.

Ginny raised her head, blinking from the tears frozen on her eyelashes.

"Dad's Ford Anglia!" she whispered, slowly standing up.

The car opened its doors and let her in. To her greatest surprise, the inner space of the Ford was pleasantly warm and dry.

"Thank you." she whispered, and abruptly felt extremely drowsy. 

She nestled herself into the blanket on the rear seat and immediately fell asleep. She was too tired to dream, so disturbing images avoided her during her slumber.

About two hours later a strange howl shook her out of her sleep. She rubbed her eyes, yawned, sat up and let out a shriek.

The turquoise Ford was surrendered by wolves. Ginny didn't waste time trying to find out whether her attackers were werewolves, or just plain, simple wolves – all she cared for was that the beasts looked hungry. 

For a moment she felt too shocked to act, but as the beasts started to lunge at the car, nearly breaking its windows, she realised that she'd end up as (were)wolf-fodder, if she didn't do something. She climbed into the driver's seat, gripped the steering wheel and stepped on the gas. The motor gave out a cough, and the Ford set into motion – though slowly, too slowly. Six years spent in the Forbidden Forest weren't good for the car – it was a wonder that it was still in one piece.

"Come on!" Ginny cried, yanking the wheel right and left, steering the car away from the pack of (were)wolves, that didn't intend to let their prey get away that easily. The beasts followed the car, letting out threatening howls. Some of them were even quicker than the Ford, overtook it, and blocked the way.

"Shit!" Ginny put on the brakes, pulled the gear-shift, then punched a button on the dashboard, and the car took off. The girl let out a gleeful yelp and grinned at the befuddled (were)wolves, that receded into small pinpricks under the Ford Anglia. "D'ya see me now?" she laughed, veering the car into northern direction, in order to reach the edge of the forest. Close to the skirts, she started to descend. She was about to put down the car on a small clearing, began to brake, but the brakes just didn't function.

"Stop you old fool! STOP!" Ginny shouted, and yanked the steering wheel to avoid collision with a tree. Suddenly a moving form appeared right before the car. 

"Nooooo!" the form shrieked, waving its hands.

Ginny kicked the brakes with all her power, gritted her teeth and squeezed her eyes shut. The Ford's wheels creaked and the car stopped.

"Have you gone crazy? You could have killed me!" an angry voice yelled. "This is the Forbidden Forest, not the Paris-Dakar rally!"

Ginny opened her eyes, her hands still clutching the steering wheel, her right leg still pushing the brake.

"Oh, of course! A woman!" the owner of the angry voice carried on. "You females drive like madmen!"

Ginny rubbed her eyes – she couldn't believe what she saw: a pissed off centaur, shaking his fist at her.

She rolled down the window. "I'm sorry, Mr. Centaur. I didn't want to frighten you."

"Frighten? No one can frighten Bane!" the centaur growled.

"No one?" another voice came from behind a snow-hill. "And that case with the Easter Bunny? You got so frightened from it, that you wet yourself!"

Bane's face turned red with rage, and Ginny started to giggle.

"You are laughing at me???" Bane scowled.

"Never mind, pal." a red-bearded centaur appeared. "This poor little thing just got over a terrible shock. She needs a bit of fun."

"And making fun of ME is the best therapy for shocked brats?" Bane rumbled.

"Why not?" the other centaur winked at Ginny and extended his hand. "Hi, kid, I'm Ronan. Nice flying you made. And good escape from the wolves."

"Thank you, Ronan." the girl shook his hand. "Pleased to meet you. My name is Ginny Weasley."

"Ginny? Weasley?" a third voice yelled. It belonged to a blonde centaur, who came closer and knelt into the snow.

"What the hell are you doing, Firenze?" Bane frowned.

"I'm kneeling before you in all my humbleness." Firenze told Ginny.

"Why?" the girl raised an eyebrow.

"Yeah, why?" Ronan asked, either.

"Don't you recognise her name?" Firenze turned to his fellows. "Ginny… Weasley… she is THE girl, who will…"

Ronan slapped his forehead. "Really! She is HER! The girl, who will…" and he bowed deeply before Ginny.

Bane frowned. "If that's true, and she is truly the girl, who will…" he bent his head, too.

Ginny looked from Firenze to Ronan, then to Bane, confused. "Who am I? What will I do?"

"I'm sorry, but we cannot tell you, Saviour."

"Watch your tongue, Firenze!" Bane shouted. "Don't call her that name!"

"She mustn't get to know it." Ronan agreed.

"What?" Ginny got out of the car. "What are you concealing from me?"

Firenze looked up with a dreamy face. "The stars told us."

"WHAT?" the girl frowned. She was getting really upset.

"The planet Uranus revealed it to us." Ronan said.

Bane nodded. "It did."

Ginny still didn't understand anything. "Would you, please, explain…?"

The three centaurs shook their heads.

"Okay." Ginny sighed. "Then accompany me to the edge of the forest, will you? I don't like _Wondering with Werewolves_, especially not alone."

"Of course we'll go with you. You have to be safe." Ronan declared.

"Yes. She is too precious to lose." Bane agreed.

For a moment Ginny felt like Alice in wonderland: a lost girl, accompanied by three crazy creatures.

She wished she could understand the centaur's words. What were they driving at? She's the girl, who will… do WHAT???

And what exactly did Firenze call her? She didn't remember. 

She felt confused – but at least the shock from the wolves and the humiliation by Peeves didn't bother her anymore. Not at all.

But that implying… Hagrid was right – centaurs were really dreamy folks… 

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A/N2: sorry about the language, but I felt that in this chapter I needed to make the characters (especially Peeves) say bad words.


	21. The secret of the Great Pyramid

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A/N: I have a big request on you: I've grown to like the 12th theme of the HP film soundtrack (Christmas at Hogwarts) very much, but there are a couple of words in the song that I don't understand. Would someone be kind enough to write the whole song down and send it to me in an email? Thanks in advance.

And now to your reviews:

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Elizabeth: I'm glad that you didn't think my fic was a lame one :-)

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Lishel Fracrium: sorry, I'm not telling what Ginny will do. You'll get to know in time. (I know, I'm evil… keeping all the readers in suspense…)

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K-K: you asked why they didn't need to find Ron. Sorry, if I told you, I'd spoil the surprise. Don't worry, Harry'll get his memories back. You'll get more Ron/Hermione in the next chapter that will be about Christmas.

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joebob1379: you have seen the movie for three times??? I'm green with envy! (I've read that someone who had seen it, thought that it was too childish. What's your opinion?)

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PadmeSkywalker: I also liked the Fat Lady ;-)

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fire*child: Draco becoming friendlier??? Weeeeeell… who knows? I'm pretty unpredictable, so no possibilities can be excluded…

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Isis: thanks for the correction of Thoth's name. This chapter will contain some other Egyptian gods' names. If I wrote them wrong, feel free to correct me. (Get my story published in Noble and Barnes? Lol… you people write so funny things…) 

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Atalanta Zora: get Peeves removed??? No way! I like him! How many of your friends have read my story? Don't you people in America (you live there, don't you?) use the hours until 24 hour??? We use them in Hungary.

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Waldomier: oh yeah, the stupid centaurs never make sense. (But still, they know something that no one else does – well, maybe except for good ol' Albus…)

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Sailor Chibi: I'm glad to have picked this title, it really attracts attention. (Truth be told I had two other titles for the fic, but I'm happy to have chosen this one, because it tells things, but not too much, while the other two would have told way too much and you'd already know what to expect :-) Nice to hear that you like long fics – this one is gonna be really long.

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Tilulu: you asked how Harry is gonna find out who he is if that Egyptian guy cannot help him – but did you really expect me to answer this question? All I can tell you about Harry regaining his memories is that you might never guess how it will happen :-)

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Song*4*Fluffy: I might disappoint you. Sorry. But I promised a happy end to every reader, so you won't be too disappointed ;-)

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Hermione Granger: so you do have a feeling why the centaurs called her saviour. Hm… I have to tell you that not many people have the slightest idea what will happen with Ginny, but my mother managed to find it out pretty early (either she's a genious or she has the Sight.) About Harry being evil I must tell you that I think those people are evil who say that Harry is evil! And not only are they evil but they are extremely stupid as well!

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Vanilla: yeah, I'm from Hungary, and yes, I have already heard that Oliver was hot :-) Can't wait to see the film!

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Avada Kedavra: so you liked the password? I'd never guess why… lol 

Enjoy!

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Chapter 21

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The secret of the Great Pyramid

Two weeks had passed since Abysmal sun-Amun started his therapy on Gilderoy. Abysmal didn't want to leave the pyramids – they needed his protection, in his opinion – so Gilderoy stayed with him, and so did Sunny and Harry. Mr. sun-Amun advised that his daughter and the boy should return to Cairo and give some company to poor Abdul, but Harry didn't want to leave Gilderoy, for he was the only 'friend' he knew. Of course he and Anck-sun-Amun also became friends, but Harry never ceased to feel that something was missing from his life, besides his memories. Neither Gilderoy, nor Sunny could make up for Ron and Hermione, and deep in his heart he felt that not only old friends were missing, but someone else, too… some he _loved_.

24th December was the longest night of the year – in Christian cultures it was celebrated as Christmas, but Moslems didn't regard it as something of great importance.

Gilderoy and Abysmal, having had a hard day behind them, were already asleep, but Harry didn't feel tired at all. He had spent the day watering camels and listening to ancient Egyptian tales told by Sunny.

The sky now was pitch-black, millions of celestial flames burning above the desert.

"That is the Orion." Harry said. He simply knew that constellation, though he didn't remember the astronomy classes with Professor Sinistra. "With the three stars in its belt."

"Yep. The three stars are called Almillam, Alnitak and Mintaka." Sunny replied. "Did you know that the Great Pyramids were built to depict the Orion belt? They are situated exactly like those three stars, and they are even standing in such an angle to the Nile, that it exactly corresponds with the position of the Orion belt compared to the Milky Way."

Harry shook his head. "No. I didn't know that." he pointed his finger at a very bright star. "What is that one called? I can't recall its name."

"Sirius." the girl answered.

Harry furrowed his brow. "_Sirius_?"

"Yup. Or you may call it Alpha Canis Maioris. It's the brightest star of all."

*Sirius… Sirius… Sirius…* the word echoed in Harry's ears. *Why does a star's name make me feel this funny?* he thought. As though _Sirius_ had meant more to him than just a star's name.

Not much later Anck-sun-Amun and Harry said good night to each other and climbed into their respective tents.

It was shortly before midnight when Harry heard a strange voice – a faint one, like the sound of the wind. It was calling out to him.

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Deep inside the greatest tomb,

Like a child still in the womb,

There's a secret so well-kept,

That if you are an inept,

Don't even try finding it,

'Cause you'll be but a spirit

by the time you reach the gate,

You'll have faced your deadly fate.

But if you are 'capable',

Enter then, now or never.

You will have two hundred days,

Before the tomb hides its ways.

If you now miss the chance,

Don't even try enchantments,

Time is up, the tomb-gate seals,

For more than thousand years.

At first Harry thought he was dreaming, but as the voice kept repeating its short verse, he got convinced that he was wide-awake.

He got out of his tent, expecting to see wizards swarming into the direction the voice came from.

To his greatest surprise he saw no one stir.

The camp was peaceful and silent. Silent, apart from the voice that repeated those lines. 

Harry crouched down before Sunny's tent. The girl was fast asleep.

*How is this possible?* he thought. For a moment he paused to wake the girl, but he decided against it. He didn't want to irritate her – if she woke up and heard nothing, she'd not only be angry, but would also take him for a complete fool.

He hesitated whether to follow the mysterious voice, or stay put and ignore it.

Somehow he felt that he _needed _to have a look at that secret the greatest tomb – the Kufu Pyramid – was hiding. He couldn't explain why he felt that way – there were many things that couldn't be explained, and this one belonged to them.

He had to follow it, Harry just _knew _it instinctively.

For a moment he listened to the camp's noises – he wanted to make sure that no one saw him leave – but all he could hear was the snoring of the members of the _Let's Save the Pyramids League._

Some camels stirred under a bunch of palm-trees. Fortunately Abu was also asleep – bringing curious monkeys into mysterious, magical places was thoughtless – proved by Disney Co.

So Harry began to follow the voice through the camp, wondering why all the others were still dozing. Could he be the only one to hear the voice?

By every passing moment he got more and more convinced of it.

After about half an hour he reached the basement of the Kufu Pyramid.

*Now what?* he mused. The voice immediately told him to knock on one of the basement stones with his wand – the stone had a small eye engraved in it – the symbol of Isis.

Harry obliged, and a secret gate opened in the wall of the pyramid.

He gulped, fought back a sudden attack of fear and stepped in.

He found himself in a narrow passageway.

"_Lumos_!" he said, and his wand illuminated the corridor around him. In the light of the wand he saw peeling paintings on the walls: pictures of Isis and Osiris and those of the pharaoh Kufu.

The voice kept telling him the way, so as he reached a fork, he immediately knew which passage to choose.

Soon he arrived at a fake burial vault – cursed by a scarab-beetle curse (in a nutshell: you open the fake coffin and get attacked by not fake, but totally real scarab-beetles that eat themselves into your body.)

Harry didn't even care about the coffin – he knew it wasn't what he was looking for.

The voice carried on giving him instructions, leading him through a whole maze of corridors (some of which were littered with human bones: two and three-skulled skeletons, surely due to curses that Ron had talked about. However, Harry didn't remember Ron.)

He had already spent about an hour in the pyramid when he realised that he wasn't alone. Someone was following him. 

A shiver ran down his spine. *It must be the mummy!* unfortunately he didn't remember Professor Lupin's mummy-repelling charm.

He raised his wand, ready to do something – a futile effort when you don't remember a single spell but _Lumos _and_ Nox._

Suddenly a small lilac light appeared in the corridor. The light came from a wand that actually belonged to Anck-sun-Amun.

"Whew!" Harry let out a sigh. "You've frightened me. I thought you were the mummy… but what are you doing here? You are supposed to be sleeping."

"So are you." the girl replied. "I followed you. Anyway, I could ask you the same question: what the hell are you doing in here?"

"Um, well, following the voice." Harry shrugged.

"What voice?"

"Can't you hear it?"

The girl shook her head. "What is that voice telling you?"

"Oh, well, it was talking about some secret in the Great Pyramid, then showed me the way in here. It's leading me to the secret, I guess."

Sunny frowned, clearly not approving of Harry obeying a voice that only he could hear.

"What if that voice only wants to lure you into a trap?" she asked. "Or what if it only exists in your imagination?"

Harry knitted his eyebrows. "The fact that I'm amnesiac doesn't mean that I'm crazy. I HEARD that voice. Still hear it."

"And what is it telling you right now?" she crossed her arms.

"It is telling that… it cannot lead me any deeper into the pyramid. I've arrived to the very last wall separating me from the secret, and have to find out how to get through it."

"Now you see…" Sunny shook her head. "It wanted to trap you. It led you into the bowels of the pyramid, deep enough that you won't be able to find your way back, then left you. What a pathetic try of delusion! Good that I can lead you back."

"Back? How?"

"Have you heard of Ariadne?" Harry shook his head. "She was an ancestors of mine, who gave a thread to Prince Theseus to find his way out of the labyrinth of the mynotaur. Look, I have the latest development of Ariadne's thread." she showed him a ring on her index-finger. In the light of the two wands, Harry could see a very thin, silver thread coming out of the ring. "Cool, isn't it? Since the ring ejects the thread, I don't have to bother with the ball, it doesn't tangle up, either. I've souped it up a bit with an anti-break charm. So, let's go!"

"Let's go?" Harry frowned. "No way, sister. I've come this far. I want to know what that secret is."

"Oh, so you do." she wrinkled her nose. "If your greatest desire in life is to be chased through the pyramid by a bunch of blood-thirsty mummies, then do so – go ahead."

"That's exactly what I'm gonna do." Harry declared, determined.

"You've got a sun-stroke, don't you?" Sunny folded her arms before her chest. "You spent the whole day watering the camels, so no wonder that…"

"I'm fine!" Harry interrupted her. "Listen, there was a voice, talking _only_ to ME. It _wanted_ me to get to know something, and I have the feeling that I might come upon something important… dunno, maybe something that will help me get my memories back. You can go back, Sunny, I'd never risk your life. But I HAVE TO go through this. Have to."

The girl saw the determination in Harry's green eyes. "Shit, I'm gonna regret this!" she spat.

"What?" he gave her a questioning look.

"I'm coming with you. You can't read the hieroglyphs, can you?"

Harry shook his head.

"Okay, then. If we find a huge heap of gold, the half of it belongs to me."

The boy grinned. "I don't think this whole thing is about treasures, and neither do you."

Sunny smiled back, and raised her wand to illuminate the wall before them.

"Look! The mark of Apophys!" she pointed at a serpent-painting.

"Apophys?" 

"The snake-god." she explained. "The hieroglyphs say that only the chosen ones can hear the voice, and only once in a millennium. Only they can open the secret gate leading to the _light of life._" she turned to Harry. "The light of life? What could that mean?"

The young man shrugged. "You're the local here, not me."

Sunny read the text once more. "…only the chosen ones can hear the voice… oh, holy Isis! Do you know what that means?"

"What?"

"This sentence is told by Apophys. He talks about the voice, that only you could hear. That… that means you are… _Parselmouth_."

"Parcel…what?" Harry blinked.

"Parselmouth. You can speak the language of serpents." the girl shuddered – not from cold, but from horror. "It is a bad omen, you know… Apophys was evil, so were his successors, the three Basilisks."

"Basilisks?" Harry found that word pretty familiar. "The snakes that are born from a chicken egg hatched under a toad?"

"How do you know about them?" the girl's eyes widened.

"Dunno." he shrugged. "I just know it."

"I have a bad feeling about this." Anck-sun-Amun stated.

"But you will help me, won't you?"

"Sure I will." the young woman sighed, and turned back to the wall. "Okay, so Apophys talks here about a flame that he was born from. That flame can only be accessed by a Parselmouth."

"And what is that flame good for?" Harry asked.

"No idea. I think we'll find it out if we find that flame."

"Do you think that flame is the secret of the Great Pyramid?"

"Very likely." she nodded. "Okay, the script on the wall says that you have to place your hand here and say 'Open' in Parseltongue." she showed Harry a brick with a serpent on it.

The boy complied and no sooner did his hand touch the brick, than the wall started to shudder.

"Open!" he said aloud, but nothing happened - even the shuddering of the wall stopped. "What did I do wrong?"

"You said it in English, not Parseltongue."

"But I don't know how to speak Parseltongue. Is there an English-Parseltongue dictionary in your camp?"

Sunny couldn't help but laugh. "No, there's no dictionary like that at all. So few people speak Parseltongue that is was not necessary to write one."

"Oh, I see." Harry nodded. "What could I do then?"

"Well, I guess if you should imagine that you're talking to a snake, then you'll actually speak Parseltongue."

"Okay, let's give it a try." he imagined a huge boa constrictor, and said 'Open!'

The wall shuddered again and a door opened in it.

Harry let go of the brick with the serpent on it, and peered into the room. He expected it to be totally dark, but it wasn't. In the middle of the room stood a torch, burning with an ethereal green light.

"It's beautiful." Harry whispered.

"Uh-huh," Sunny answered, but didn't waste her time ogling the unaccustomed torch. She searched immediately for hieroglyphs, instead.

"This is the _Green Flame Torch_." she said, turning to the boy.

"Really?" he raised an eyebrow, with a hint of amusement on his face. "I would never have guessed."

The girl didn't react upon the mocking tone of his voice, just carried on with reading out the script: "So, this flame is the one from which Apophys was born, and it can only be accessed once in a thousand years, only for two hundred days, and only by a Parselmouth."

"Already heard that." he pointed out.

"Repetitio est mater studiorum." she replied with a serious face. "So, if the Green Flame Torch isn't found and used by a Parselmouth within those 200 days while the tomb is open, then it only will be accessible more than 1000 years later."

"Uhum." Harry nodded. "There was something like this in the verse, too."

"Let me continue." Sunny said, clearly not happy about being interrupted. "So, it can be used within the two hundred days. This chamber opened yesterday, so…" she made a bit of mental arithmetic, "it can be used until 11th July."

"But what do you mean by _using_ it?" Harry inquired.

"The Green Flame Torch, my friend, is able to resurrect people. When a Parselmouth uses it, he has to step into this circle here," she pointed at a circle of two metres in diameter drawn on the floor, "and has to ignite it with the torch around himself. Then he can choose a dead person to come back from death."

Had Harry remembered his past, had he known that he had lost his beloved parents, he would surely have decided to bring one of them back now. But he didn't remember.

"What if… what if I don't want to use it now, only later? After I've regained my memories… maybe there's someone I'd want to bring back then."

The girl shook her head. "The hieroglyphs say that if a Parselmouth leaves the pyramid without using the torch and wants to return later – still within the 200-day period – he'll have to face all the dangers of the tomb that avoided him for the first time. Next time you won't be led by the voice, and you can get lost or killed."

Harry seemed to contemplate her words. "What if we draw a map about the corridors we've come through? I'm sure I'll remember the signs I had to touch or knock with my wand."

"It isn't that simple." Anck-sun-Amun answered. "This is an enchanted tomb, as are many of the ancient Egyptian tombs. Once someone leaves it alive, the inner construction gets changed. It gets rearranged. You won't be able to come in the same way once again. Quite tricky, huh?"

"Yeah." Harry sighed, then shrugged. "Never mind. I don't remember anyone now whom I would like to bring back, and don't think I'd ever need this torch."

"Are you that sure? There won't be another opportunity like this."

"Yes, I'm sure." he said. "Let's go."

Sunny shrugged. "As you wish. It is your choice to make. But next time don't expect me to help you."

Harry grinned. "I don't think there will be a next time. It was fun, though." he yawned. "It must already be dawn, right?"

"Very likely." she stifled a yawn. "Man, I'm tired."

The two youngsters stumbled out of the chamber, the door of which closed with a hiss.

Now they only had to follow Sunny's silver thread and half an hour later they reached out of the pyramid. The sky was still dark, but a light pinkish hue already appeared on the horizon.

"Good morning." Anck-sun-Amun smiled.

"Good night, you mean." Harry climbed into his tent, and immediately fell asleep.

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A/N2: now you must be wondering what this whole thing with the torch was good for… you'll find out in time.

Review, please!


	22. Noisy night, holy night

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A/N: thanks for the reviews, people!

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cleo: sorry, I don't know the Egyptian name for the scorpion.

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Lavender: You'll see lots of stuff about Ginny's family, though you'll have to wait a 'bit' for it. But I promise that there will be a chapter focusing on the Weasley family, and it will be really funny.

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Hermione Granger: I don't know whether to believe the rumours that the 6th book is going to be called HP and the Green Flame Torch, but I think that it sounds pretty good. I hope it will be the title.

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Nefertiri: you realised that the ring idea came from The princess and the goblins! I thought it was a sweet story with really good music. I liked the idea that the goblins could be scared away by singing!

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DragonSinger: I'm glad you like my story this much – and it also makes me happy that you told your friends about it :-)

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Pantaliamon: sorry, I really was is the firm belief that Yallah meant "hurry up!", because I've seen a film (made from a book of Henry Sienkiewich) in which Arabs kidnapped a little British girl and a somewhat older Polish boy, made them sit on camels and yelled "Yallah" when spurring the camels. That's why I thought it meant something like "hurry up."

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Waldomier: you wrote that you saw a fic with the title HP and the green flame torch. You have to know that there are at least 5-6 fics on ffnet with the same title, since it is rumoured to be the title of the sixth Harry Potter book. (It's just like HP and the order of the phoenix – there are more than 20 stories on ffnet with that title, which I find pretty ridiculous.) So I didn't steal the idea from any other fic-author, and didn't steal it from Rowling either, since it is not yet sure that the title will be HP and the green flame torch. (Truth be told I was playing with the idea to give my story the same title, but then I realised that I shouldn't go along with the crowd and should do something unique. I'm happy that I chose this scandalous title ;-) And to reassure you: I haven't read any of those Green Flame Torch stories, have no idea what the torch is used for in those fics.

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Kitty Kat: I'm going to read you fic as soon as I have time for it.

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Katarina the Great: the same for you as for Kitty Kat.

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eternity: do you really check ffnet five times a day because of my story??? Wow! I'm glad that you like it so much!

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some1: I know that all of you want to see H and G together again, and you'll see them, of course, but things have to happen before they meet again.

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Claire Thorpe: I've reviewed two chapters of your story so far, I'm reading the rest of it, but please, but patient, I'm terribly busy nowadays with my exams looming closer and closer…

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2Coolio: one of your guesses come close to the actual plot (not too close), but the other is far from the real thing.

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sharliestar: yeah, I've written the whole story, but still doing smaller modifications.

Enjoy!

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Chapter 22

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Noisy night, holy night

This Christmas was the worst Hogwarts had ever seen. First of all, this was the first one without Professor Dumbledore. Since the old wizard left the castle to an unknown place, even snow felt colder and sunshine seemed darker.

Professor McGonagall became the new headmistress appointed by the Ministry of Magic, and Severus Snape became her deputy.

Though McGonagall was a really good headmistress, nothing was the same without Dumbledore. 

No matter how many golden crystals were shining at the dozen Christmas trees, no matter how long streamers of holly and mistletoe were hanging from the enchanted ceiling, Christmas spirit simply avoided the Hogwarts castle and its inhabitants.

Ron tried to look happy about the holidays, but he didn't manage to fool Hermione.

"Don't strain yourself." the girl said. "I know how you feel. I feel the same way. Everyone misses Dumbledore… and Harry."

"Everyone?" Ron shook his head. "Malfoy surely not. But at least we won't see him smirking and boasting that he succeeded in getting Dumbledore sacked. He left for the holidays, hasn't he?"

"No." Hermione replied. "And that's exactly what is worrying me. Malfoy always spends the holidays at home… well, with the exception of second and fourth year… but fourth year doesn't count, there was the Yule-ball, and he obviously didn't want to miss it… I have simply no idea why he'd want to stay here this year. But he is staying, that's for sure."

"Unfortunately…" Ron said, tossing the annual maroon sweater away. "At least Dobby will have a nice Xmas. The jumper I gave him in fourth year looks already pretty worn. He'll be glad to get a new one."

Hermione nodded. "Have you seen my gift?"

"Not yet. Which one is it?" Ron asked.

"The green package over there."

Ron hastily unwrapped the gift. "Wow, Herm, a Chudley Cannons T-shirt! And a… book…" he smirked. "Thank you, dear." he gave her a big kiss. "And here's my gift to you." he handed her a small case wrapped in violet paper.

Hermione took the case and ripped the paper from it. It was a jewel box. "Ron…" she frowned, opening it. "Oh, holy Snitch, Ron… this must have cost a fortune! Where did you get the money for this?" she took a sapphire brooch out of the box. "You didn't rob the Gringotts for it, did you?"

Ron shook his head, laughing. "Nay. You remember how upset you were when I didn't invite you to the Burrow last summer?"

She nodded, but had no idea what the lack of Ron's invitation could have to do with the brooch.

"Well, it was because I wasn't at home and I had a good reason not to let you know where I was."

"Why weren't you at the Burrow?" she furrowed her brow.

"I was working at Honeydukes."

"Whole summer?"

"Whole summer." he nodded. "I wanted to earn money to be able to surprise you with this at Christmas." he pointed at the sapphire.

"Oh, Ron…" the girl's eyes filled with joyous tears.

"That means you like the gift?"

Instead of answering, she flung her arms around his neck, giving him a lingering kiss. "Forgive me for being angry with you back in summer… I supposed that you didn't like me anymore."

Ron wiped her tears away. "You little goose…"

"Hey, don't ever call me…" she couldn't finish the sentence, since he closed her lips with another kiss.

"So that was why you didn't invite Harry, either." Hermione stated.

"Yup. I asked him to make up for my impoliteness, and invite you into his home."

"So you let him in on your little secret?"

"Yeah, he knew it all along." Ron grinned. "And supported the idea. He said he wanted to see us together since the Yule ball."

Hermione smiled. "Good ol' Harry… where can he be now?" she sighed. "Where could he be celebrating Christmas? Oh, Ron, this is our first Xmas without him… I miss him so much."

"Me too." he replied with a sad smile. "I couldn't give him the book I'd bought him."

"A _book_?" the girl looked amused. "_You_ giving him a _book_? I thought you only could buy him dung-bombs and Quidditch-equipment."

"I was contemplating whether to give him something like that…" he admitted, "but then I saw this book in the Hogsmeade bookshop and just couldn't resist the temptation to buy it for Harry." he pull open a drawer and took out a huge book with the title _1001 reasons why You-Know-Who never played Quidditch for England_ by Dagobert McSweep. "A funny book…" he shrugged. "I was sure Harry would be in stitches when reading it."

"Hey…" Hermione took his hand, squeezing it reassuringly. "Eventually you might be able to give it to Harry. Have patience, Ron."

"I'm trying." he sighed. "But it isn't easy. Especially not when I look at Ginny. She is the one who suffers the most from Harry's absence."

"I know." she replied, then decided to cheer Ron up a bit, and pinned the brooch on her robe. "Okay, what do you think?"

He whistled admiringly. "Looks much better on you than the SPEW badge."

They both burst out laughing.

Suddenly there was a loud bang, followed by a creaking noise. They looked around to see what the source of the noises was.

"Ron! An owl!" Hermione shouted, pointed at the window. The boy dashed to the window and opened it. A big tawny owl was lying on the window-ledge, a huge package beside it. The wind must have blown it into the window. From the shock of the impact the owl lost its consciousness, and slid down the glass, scratching it with its claws and beak.

"Poor little thing." Hermione reached out for the bird, gathering it into her arms. "It has fainted."

"If you'd bump into a window, you wouldn't look better." Ron declared. "Whom do you think this owl has brought this package?" he took the case, but suddenly dropped it.

"Are you crazy? It might be fragile!"

"Don't think so." Ron shook his head. "It's moving."

"Moving?" she raised an eyebrow.

"Yeah. Something living is in there."

"Well, let's see the enclosed letter." she read the address on the envelope. "It's for you."

"Me?" Ron frowned. "Who'd send me an animal?"

Hermione shrugged. "Hopefully not Hagrid…" At that very moment one side of the package opened – or rather ripped open – and a funny, black creature with a long snout burst out of it.

"A niffler!" Ron yelled. "I've wanted to have one since Hagrid showed them to us in fourth year!" he jumped to reach the nimble animal, but missed, and fell prone. "Hey, come back, you little imp!" the niffler wasn't about to obey Ron and scurried under Neville's bed.

"Leave it and read the letter!" Hermione handed him the envelope.

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Dear Ron,

You said once that you'd be happy to have a niffler and since I had no better idea what to surprise you with this year, I bought her to you from the Magical Creatures Pre-Order Catalogue. I can't wait until 25th December to see your face when you get her. If you have problems finding her a name, just ask me – I have some ideas.

Merry Christmas!

Harry

P.S. Do you know how funny it was for me to wish you Merry Christmas in August?

"It's… it's from Harry…" Ron mumbled. "He bought me this niffler back in August… and, and…" his voice was trembling, and tears were threatening to come. Ron somehow fought them back, though.

Hermione, on the contrary, was crumpling a handkerchief, sniffing.

"Harry… oh, Ron, it seems… as if he'd known that he wouldn't be here now, so he bought your present during the summer, and saw to it that you'd still get his gift. So touching…"

The boy nodded, turning his back on her, to hide the tear that finally found its way down his cheek. "He's a real friend." he said, and crouched down to pull his new pet out from under Neville's bed.

* * * * *

In the evening the usual Christmas feast took place in the Great Hall.

Only eleven students stayed in the castle: Ron, Hermione, Neville (his grandma was abroad visiting a second-cousin), Ginny, Malfoy, Crabble, Goyle, Millicent Bulstrode, two fifth-years and a second-year.

Professor McGonagall sat at the head of the table, Snape on her right, Flitwick on her left. Professor Sprout wasn't present – she was out in the greenhouses, giving the jumping blue tomatoes some liquid medicine against coughing.

Professor Trelawney chose to stay in her room to think about death, the universe, and everything. No one missed her.

Hagrid was sitting at the end of the table, deeply immersed in making himself acquainted with a huge tankard of butterbeer. He seemed to have decided to drink himself unconscious – maybe that was the best way to forget about to recent shocks shattering Hogwarts.

"Look at Malfoy." Ron whispered to his sister and Hermione. "I've never seen him this broken-down. As if it wasn't him at all. Do you think it's Moaning Myrtle disguised as Malfoy?"

"Ghosts cannot turn into people, Ron." Hermione lectured him. "Neither can they drink Polyjuice Potion."

"I know… still he looks like Myrtle in her worst moment."

Ginny nodded. "Strange that I haven't heard him making remarks on anyone… not even on me. I was kinda expecting him mocking me about my condition or Harry's disappearance, but nothing like that has happened – not yet, anyway. Not that I miss it, though…"

"Maybe he just ran out of ideas what to tease people about." Neville commented.

The feast was quite short since no one felt like partying. After dinner everyone headed for their respective dorms.

Ron didn't miss the opportunity to kiss Hermione under a garland of mistletoe.

Ginny politely diverted her eyes, fighting down the urge to chuckle. She imagined Harry kissing her like that, and let out a resigned sigh.

She went upstairs, entered her empty dorm and dropped herself on her bed. All her roommates were at home, and for a moment she felt grateful for the silence. She needed to be alone with her thoughts.

Ginny reached out for the packages on her bed – she hadn't cared to open them yet. One of them contained a book on magical tart recipes from Hermione, another a bag of Bertie Bott's Every Flavoured Beans from Ron. *He wants to fatten me.* she smiled. *No need for that. I'll become fat sooner than he'd expect.* she placed her hands on her still flat stomach. "Merry Christmas, Sweet One." she whispered. "Mommy promises you that your next Christmas will be much better… let's hope that Daddy will be with us by then, shall we?"

Ginny reached out for a letter sent by her mother. Molly wrote that she had bought all kinds of presents for the baby but she didn't send them to Ginny. (You won't need them until June!). Ginny was happy that her mother had forgiven her and was very grateful for all the advice Molly was giving her in her letters. (Remember dear, the best method to fight down morning sickness is to drink a mug of steaming pumpkin tea!… Mood swings, dear? They are totally natural, don't worry about them – and if Ron is bugging you about them, just slap him in the face!) Ginny always had to smile at her mother's pieces of advice.

The next package was very small. Ginny curiously opened it, to find a small silver watch hanging on a chain. It was supposed to be some kind of jewellery. She unfolded the unclosed letter.

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Dear Ginny,

I heard about your incident with the wolves and got a bit scared. You have to take better care of yourself, young lady! Think of your child! Please, always wear this watch, and should you get into trouble, just flick it open and push that little purple button in it. I might have left the school, but I'll be always there for you if you need me. 

A very merry Christmas!

Albus Dumbledore

P.S. I promised Harry to take care of you, just before he left, and I always keep my word.

Ginny was touched by the ex-headmaster's thoughtfulness. _I'll be always there for you…_ A single tear coursed down Ginny's face. She reached out and wiped her cheek. *If only Harry was here for me…* she thought, putting the chain around her neck.

She opened her last package and pulled out a loose-fitting blue dress. As she touched it, the material changed into pink.

There was a card enclosed.

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Dear Sis,

We thought you'd be needing this soon. Originally we wanted to send you a liquid toilet seat (our new, award-winning invention), but eventually decided to surprise you with something useful. (How unusual from us, huh?) Hope you like it, Merry Christmas!

Gred and Forge

Ginny stepped to the mirror, holding the (now green) dress in front of her, then, with a sudden thought she dropped her robes and put on the twins' present. She swirled in front of the mirror, the dress flowing around her. *This would be big enough for Madame Maxime.* she smirked. She was three months pregnant, and of course wasn't showing yet. *Well, in time it will.* she thought and reached out for a pillow. She stuffed it under the dress, inspecting herself once more.

A huge smile spread on her face. *Oh, my, I look so funny. If only Harry could see me like this.* Then another voice in her mind answered: *Hey, sister, there's plenty of time until your baby is born. Harry might be back by then!*

She acknowledged the statement with a nod.

She was abruptly shaken out of her reveries by a knock on the door. She dropped the pillow back on the bed and shouted 'Come in!'

The door opened and a very pale Neville entered.

"Neville… what happened?" she asked, almost frightened by the expression on the boy's face.

"I've just got to know why Malfoy was so sad." he replied.

"And?" Ginny had no idea how Draco's bad mood could affect Neville so deeply. As far as she knew, the two boys never liked each other.

Neville opened his mouth to say something, but no voice came out of it.

Ginny saw that the boy badly needed her support, so she took him by the hand and led him to the neighbouring bed. "Sit down and tell me what happened." she also seated herself on her bed.

"_Crucio_…" he muttered.

"What?" she knitted her eyebrows. Of course she'd heard about the unforgivable curses – Mad Eye Moody (Barty Crouch Jr.) had told them about the _Imperiatus, Cruciatus_ _and Avada Kedavra_ curses – but she couldn't imagine what Cruciatus could have to do with Draco Malfoy.

"Would you expand on it?"

Neville nodded, then seemed to be collecting himself for a moment. Finally he took a deep breath. "Malfoy's father was tortured by the _Cruciatus Curse_."

Ginny's eyes widened. "How do you know?"

Longbottom handed her a paper – the _Evening Prophet_.

****

LUCIUS MALFOY IN ST. MUNGO

by Rita Skeeter

It seems that ill-luck is striking the Malfoy-family's path nowadays. Only three month have passed since Arthur Weasley from the Misuse of Muggle Artefacts Office caught Lucius Malfoy hiding illegal objects of dark magic at his mansion.

Mr. Malfoy was fined 500 galleons, but that – as we all know – didn't shatter his financial status at all. While the loss of such an amount didn't affect the family in the least, certain events – happened recently – managed to do so.

A week ago Lucius Malfoy was taken to St. Mungo Hospital for Magical Maladies and Injuries – the very hospital he had given a considerable amount of money three years ago. His mental state – according to specialists – is critical, and alas, incurable.

What got him into his condition? – we may ask. If the opinion of Dr. Fiddlesticks, director of the hospital, can be trusted, then Mr. Malfoy had undergone the Cruciatus curse. Who was brave – or foolish – enough to implement one of the unforgivable curses on this well-known and generous nobleman?

We can only guess. It might have been carried out by a death eater – or the Dark Lord Himself.

Why would they torment Lucius Malfoy?

A good question.

It seems that Mr. Malfoy might have known something that he refused to reveal. According to Dr. Fiddlesticks, the perpetrator didn't manage to break into Mr. Malfoy's mind, but neither did the medics at St. Mungo succeed in accessing his memories.

"Such things happen when someone fights for the privacy of his thoughts to such an extent, that neither Imperio, nor Cruciatus can drag his secrets out of him. This unfortunate man," Dr. Fiddlesticks gives Lucius Malfoy a pitiful glance, "was tough enough to resist Imperio, but Crucio finally broke him mentally. He kept his secret – and is likely to keep it forever. He namely cannot talk, nor remember."

Now poor Mr. Malfoy is spending his days – and very possibly the rest of his life - in St. Mungo, but at least in great comfort, thanks to his generous donation.

His wife, Narcissa Malfoy got a nervous breakdown when she heard about her husband's terrible fate. Their son, Draco, seventh year student at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, has to spend the holidays in the school.

Hopefully his mother will get better by the beginning of the summer holiday.

__

Ginny looked up from the newspaper. "Terrible…"

Neville nodded. "For the first time in my life I feel sympathy for Malfoy."

"That is understandable." the girl replied. "His father has gone crazy, his mother might also go mad…"

Tears appeared in the boy's eyes, slowly coursing down on his cheeks. "I've always hated Malfoy, but not even my archenemy would I wish to suffer from the same thing as I do."

"The same thing as you do?" she looked confused. "What do you mean?"

"My parents… are also in St. Mungo. They were tortured by Bartemius Crouch's son and three other death eaters, right after the fall of You-Know-Who… _Cruciatus_ drove them mad. They don't recognise me when I visit them."

"Oh, Neville!" Ginny pulled him into a firm embrace. The boy nestled his pudgy face into her shoulder, sobbing. "You poor one…" she bent down and kissed his cheek. Suddenly Neville stuck his mouth to her lips.

"Neville!" she yelled, pushing him away. "What the hell do you think you are doing?"

"I'm… I'm sorry…" he muttered. "I've lost my mind. I'm crazy… crazy in love with you."

Ginny stared at him, shocked. "You're in love with me?"

"I have always been." the boy admitted with downcast eyes.

For a moment he looked so innocent and helpless that she felt pity for him. "Hey…" she cupped his chin, lifting his head to look into her eyes. "It's okay, Neville. I'm not angry."

"You are so good, Ginny." he muttered. "I love you so much. If… well… should Harry never come back, I'd gladly marry you and be a good father to your child, and…" she put her hand on his lips to silence him, shaking her head.

"No. No, Neville. Harry WILL come back. He will, I feel it."

The boy nodded. "I just wanted you to know that I love you… that I'd do anything to make you happy… but if your happiness is with Harry, then I won't stand in your way. I want you to be happy, Gin. Truly."

"Thank you." she smiled. "You're a wonderful friend."

Neville forced himself to smile, when some clamour from downstairs broke the silence. A loud bang, a crash, followed by yells and outraged cries could be heard, although it was nearly midnight.

"What the…" Neville blinked.

"Dunno. C'mon, let's have a look!" Ginny suggested, beckoning him to follow her. He shrugged and ran after the girl, who seemed to have forgotten that she was still wearing the twins' present (lilac, at the moment.)

By the time they got downstairs, Professor Snape, Professor McGonagall and a fifth-year were already back at the Great Hall, curious about the noises.

They all looked shocked by the sight of an overturned table before the fireplace, along with fallen chairs, littered plates and a moving heap of table-cloth, that was giving out plaintive moans.

"What happened?" Hermione asked, as she ran to Neville and Ginny, followed by Ron, who was carrying his niffler.

"Nice dress, sis." Ron remarked.

"Thanks." Ginny blushed.

"Are we having an uninvited visitor?" Hermione wondered.

"Stand up and show yourself!" Snape shouted, his wand pointed at the huge, whimpering bulge covered with tablecloth.

Now the 'bulge' rose to its feet, visibly trembling. As it straightened its back, the tablecloth fell to the ground to reveal a very scared, fat, blonde boy.

"It's Dudley Dursley!" Ron shouted.

"Who?" Snape scowled at the newcomer.

"Harry's cousin." Ron replied.

"Is this true?" McGonagall pressed her lips together. "Are you Potter's Muggle cousin?"

Dudley nodded with an expression that suggested that he was close to fainting.

"What are you doing here?" Minerva asked.

"I've… I've come to give someone a Christmas present." the Dursley boy muttered. "I thought everyone would be asleep by now."

"You could have sent the gift by owl-post." McGonagall declared. "Using the floo-network is strictly forbidden in our school… especially for Muggles."

"Exactly." Snape nodded. (For the first time he and McGonagall agreed on something!)

"How did you get to know how to travel by floo?" Minerva inquired.

Ron gulped. "Oh, no…" he whispered. "If he tells them that he saw it from us, dad will lose his job!"

"What do you mean that he saw it from you?" the girl whispered back.

"We went for Harry by floo before the Quidditch World Cup. Don't you remember?"

"Oh, yeah." she nodded. "You mentioned it."

"Well…" Dudley drawled, "I saw Millicent using it."

"Millicent?" shouted Snape, McGonagall, Ron and Hermione in chorus.

"WHAT Millicent?" Minerva knitted her eyebrows.

"B…Bulstrode." Dudley mumbled.

"Where could you see Ms. Bulstrode using floo-powder?" Severus Snape lowered his wand.

"Um, at Mrs. Figg's house…" Dudley shrugged. "After she visited Harry at our place."

"_Visited Harry_?" Ginny gaped.

Dudley turned red, and nodded.

"But… why did she visit him?" McGonagall asked.

Dudley stared down on his shoes. "'Cause she loves him."

"LOVES HIM?" Ginny was about to freak out. "LOVES MY HARRY?"

"Uh-huh." the fat boy replied, his gaze still directed at his shoes.

"And why are YOU here now, if I may ask?" Snape growled. "Running after a girl who loves another?"

"I've come to give Milli my present." Dudley blushed even more.

"ME?" came a voice from the door.

Everyone turned around to see Millicent Bulstrode standing there, already in her night-gown.

"Milli!" Dudley's face lit up.

"Dudley?" the girl rewarded him with a disgusted look. "What the hell are you doing here?"

"Just brought you a Christmas gift," Snape informed the girl, "…since he is in love with you… aren't you, Muggle?... And do you know," he turned to Millicent, "do you know how he got here?"

The girl gulped, and shook her head.

"Do you deny having visited Potter through the Floo-network?" Snape stepped closer to her, his voice raising in pitch. "Do you deny having ignored the prohibition of using the fireplaces for travelling at Hogwarts? Do you deny…?"

"NO! I don't!" she yelled, burying her face into her hands.

"This is the second time we see her cry." Ron remarked. "When crying she looks even uglier than usual."

Hermione hushed him, indicating that she didn't want to miss a second from the scene: _Snape telling off a Slytherin_. Things like that happen only once in a lifetime.

Snape really looked outraged. "I'm deeply disappointed in you, Bulstrode. Fetch your damned gift and get out of my sight! Two hundred points from Slytherin!"

"WHAT?????" all the Gryffindors gasped. This couldn't possibly be happening… it was too good to be true.

Millicent ripped the small package out of Dudley's hand and ran out of the Great Hall.

"And now… back to you, Muggle." Snape turned to Dudley. "Tell me, is this the first time you're visiting Ms. Bulstrode?"

The boy shook his head, anxiously blinking with his watery blue eyes.

"When did you come here? And how many times?"

"Just… just once." Dudley muttered. "Right after she left Privet Drive. I wanted to come after her and tell her about my feelings…"

"And did you tell her?" McGonagall cut in.

"No. I didn't meet her then… only Draco Malfoy."

"Draco?" Ron and Hermione exchanged a confused look.

"Fishy." Ron whispered, and the girl nodded.

"And how did Mr. Malfoy react upon your sudden arrival?" Snape inquired.

"Wanted to kill me." Dudley shrugged.

"Pity that he didn't." Ron remarked, stroking his niffler's head.

"And what else did Malfoy do?" Minerva asked.

Dudley cringed from the witch's strict voice. "Nothing." he replied – a very insecure reply it was.

"Are you sure?" McGonagall stepped closer. "What do you think, Severus, should we try the veritaserum on him? I have a feeling that he is lying."

Snape shook his greasy head. "Malfoy couldn't have done anything that should be kept a secret, right, Dudley?"

The boy vividly shook his blonde head _no_, while his eyes were telling _yes_.

"I'm not convinced at all." the new headmistress folded her arms before her chest. "I suggest we use the veritaserum."

Snape shrugged. "As you wish."

Now Dudley was truly shaking, believing the veritaserum to be some special torture-chamber-equipment. "No need for that!" he blurted out. "I'll tell you everything!"

"Everything?" McGonagall raised an eyebrow. "We are curiously waiting, Mr. Dursley."

"It… it wasn't my idea! Draco forced me to oblige! I didn't want to hurt Harry, but he persuaded me – surely with magic, and…"

"What do you mean by _hurting Harry_?" Minerva scowled.

Snape started to fidget uneasily. He had a certain feeling that this discussion wasn't about to favour Draco – neither the Slytherin house.

"Yes, out with it, Porky!" Ron yelled. "What did you two do to my friend?"

Dudley's lips trembled.

"I'm giving you a three-count…" Ginny raised her wand.

"Ms. Weasley, threatening Muggles with the prospect of hexes is forbidden by the 1703 law of Muggle Protection, section four…" Professor McGonagall began, but somehow felt like agreeing with the girl. "Speak up, Mr. Dursley!"

"Draco… gave me… a potion… I don't know its name… but it helped us get rid of Harry…"

"WHAAAAAT???" everyone in the hall – with the exception of Snape – hissed.

"What have you done to MY Harry?" Ginny lunged at him, almost knocking the gigantic boy

off his feet.

Ron and Hermione acted at once, grabbing Ginny's colour-changing dress, pulling her back at the very moment she was about to scratch out Dudley's eyes.

McGonagall turned to the fifth-year who happened to be a Slytherin.

"Get Malfoy! NOW!!!"


	23. Fall of the Malfoys

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A/N: you are really wonderful reviewers! I got 75 reviews in the last two days! Thank you all!!!

THERE'S SOMETHING I NEED TO TELL YOU: LOT OF PEOPLE HAVE BEEN ASKING ME TO REVIEW THEIR STORIES. I HAVE TO ASK FOR YOU PATIENCE, BECAUSE I AM AT COLLEGE WITH TERRIBLY LOT TO STUDY. I DO HAVE A LIFE BESIDES FFNET. I'LL TRY TO READ YOUR STORIES (ESPECIALLY WHEN THEY ARE NOT LONG), BUT CAN'T PROMISE ANYTHING RIGHT NOW. I HOPE YOU UNDERSTAND. THANK YOU.

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PadmeSkywalker: yeah, for Neville nothing goes right – but wait till you see what I'll do to him! You'll be surprised!

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clara2000: No, they won't erase Dudley's memory – what would it be good for? It's obvious that Dudley wouldn't talk to anyone about his trips to Hogwarts (people in the Muggle world would think he's gone crazy and his parents… I can't even imagine what they'd do.) So I'm not erasing his memories.

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zach: is my story REALLY as good as Draco Dormiens? This is one of the biggest compliments I could get, because DD is absolutely perfect! 

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Star Jumper: I understand that you (and everyone else) want Harry to get back to Ginny right now, but you need to understand that things have to happen before that happens, because it will have a great role in the story-line. I promise to make Harry regain his memories before chapter 30… (lol, I hope you aren't too scared about such a long story…)

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DragonSinger: so your friends also read it? Glad to hear!!!

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Cho: you asked what my mother tongue was: Hungarian - just like the Horntail dragon, lol ((I have a couple of tamed Hungarian Horntails in the back-garden with invisibility spells cast on them. The neighbours are getting pretty curious about the roars coming from my place and the huge flames appearing out of nowhere…))

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kaylin: I'm happy that you found Snape hilarious – it was intended to be hilarious. I wanted to show him being fair for a change and punishing a Slytherin (Milli) when she deserved it.

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Cathie: sorry, Harry won't bump into anyone who could be you… I hope you don't mind.

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Tilulu: oh, heavens, NO! I'd never make Ginny fall in love with Neville!!!!! Making Dudley fall for Millicent was enough for extreme crushes!

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Hermione Granger: I'm not writing the story this fast – it is already ready. All I have to do is make some smaller changes before I post a chapter. I couldn't possibly write it so fast, especially with my exams so near…

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Pampered Tigeress: are you gonna read the whole story again??? Wow! It really must be good then! *grin*

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Katarina the Great: you asked what I meant by "the girl, who will?" Well, it is an unfinished sentence, leaving the rest to your imagination (but of course only for a while, because soon – in a couple of weeks – you'll get to know what Ginny will do.)

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Lololo: so many people urging me to finish! Hey, have patience! I will finish it in 2001, promised! You have read about two-thirds of the fic.

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jennaration: there'll be a scene with Harry and Millicent (and other people) at the end of the story, but you'll have to wait a bit for it.

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Shaun Wilson: I do think that Dudley is sooooo stupid that he'd still be watching Pokemon. I never knew that Dumbledore was 150 in GoF. Where do you know it from?

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Avada Kedavra: thank you very much for crowning me! I'm honoured!

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Shaldna: oh, my! I hope you weren't too tired next day after you spent the whole night reading my fic! Glad to hear that your friends like it too.

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K-K: you wrote: "hurray! they're finally going to find out where Harry is!" – sorry, but they won't – yet. How could they? Draco doesn't know where he is, only that he is amnesiac. But don't worry, you'll have Harry back before chapter 30. About Dudley and Milli… you'll get what you want *wink*. Well, about the baby's gender… *another wink*

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Tayla Riddle: thank you, but it is by now ways better than JK! She is the most perfect writer in the whole world, and no one can be as good as her! She is my idol! 

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cleo: Azkaban for Draco? No, I won't be that rude…

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Pixie48449: yes, she most definitely will have the baby in the story. (wait three more chapters!)

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Mikey: you asked whether Malfoy had got rid of his paint. No, he hasn't. Lol. (but it's really not important in the story, I just wanted to make ridicule of him back in chapter 14)

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ilovelinkinpark222: have you printed it out? REALLY??? I'm 20, by the way.

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Achintya: oh, no! I won't hurt Dudley! He's a git, but I do like him, since he is so funny…

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Super says-jin Gotan: yes, Harry is gonna come back to England, though not yet. Yes, Gildy will be cured, right in the next chapter. And yes… poor Malfoy (like him too!)

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Nefertiti: I'm gonna have a look at your website, I promise!

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LilBit: oh, you poor one! I hope it didn't hurt too much when you bit your hand!

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Atlanta Zora: *sigh* I wish I could have seen the movie… 12 more days to go until it comes out in Hungary! (But I already have tickets for the first and the fourth day! I'm gonna see it twice in four days!)

Urgh… I was long. Sorry, but I wanted to answer as many reviews as possible. 

Enjoy!

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Chapter 23

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Fall of the Malfoys

Ron, Hermione, Ginny and Neville exchanged bewildered looks. What was the headmistress planning to do?

Well, surely interrogate Malfoy – but what about Snape? What would HE do? Protect Draco? Very likely.

Not much later the fifth-year Slytherin returned, followed by Malfoy (still having blue and purple stripes in his hair) and his two confused sidekicks.

The fifth-year must have told no details to Draco, since he looked pale, but quite calm as he entered the Great Hall. His calmness disappeared at once, when he caught the first glimpse of Dudley. He didn't expect ever seeing him again – the fat boy was just a tool in his hand and once he had made use of him, Draco just threw him away. He thought that he'd done a favour to Dudley, too, and was confident that the Dursley boy wouldn't disturb him anymore.

No such luck.

Draco – the very smart and sly Draco – left Dudley's love for Millicent out of consideration. He never supposed that Dudley'd be brave – or stupid – enough to turn up at Hogwarts again. Still, Dudley did.

Malfoy swallowed hard and approached the group of students and teachers.

"Yes, Professor McGonagall?" he asked, his tone low, his lips white and trembling.

"This young man here," Minerva pointed at Dudley, "asserts to have met you earlier, and you gave him a potion to poison Harry Potter. Is this true?"

"NO!" Draco shook his head. "This is a _Muggle_, professor! I can't imagine why a prudent headmistress like you would ever believe a word of a clearly mentally subnormal guy like this… this… who-knows-who."

"I have a feeling that you actually know who this boy is, and I have all reasons to believe HIM, and not YOU, Mr. Malfoy. So, you'd better admit everything – it may be regarded as a mitigating circumstance." Professor McGonagall replied calmly, turning to Snape. "You share my opinion, Severus, don't you?"

"Of course." the Potions teacher answered through gritted teeth. His face had a nasty shade of greenish-yellow.

Malfoy's face, on the other hand, was as white as a sheet – no one had seen him this pasty before.

Ginny's complexion was the total opposite of his: deep red with fury.

"Well, Mr. Malfoy? Would you let us in on the details?" the headmistress' voice pressed.

"I won't talk in the presence of the Weasleys and Granger." Draco crossed his arms, forcing himself to look as superior as possible.

"Very well, Malfoy, you know where my office is, don't you?" McGonagall replied.

The boy shook his head.

"Professor Snape, would you please take Draco up to my room?" she turned to Dudley: "You are free to leave, boy, but never ever come back, understood? The floo-network is no playground for Muggles."

"But… Millicent…" Dudley mumbled.

"Buy an owl and talk to her in mails, Mr. Dursley." Minerva said, clearly indicating that she finished their discussion.

"Okaaaay." the fat boy sighed, dropped the tablecloth that was still draped over his shoulders, and stepped to the fireplace, throwing floo powder into the flames. "Mrs. Figg's house!"

As Dudley disappeared, McGonagall turned her attention to the students. "Go up to your dorms, kids. Good night."

"Good night???" Ginny yelled, outraged. "I WANT to hear Draco's admission. As the offended party's fiancee, I have the right to…"

"Ms. Weasley!" Snape cut in. "Let me remind you that there are only two people at Hogwarts who have the right to decide who has rights, and to what: Professor McGonagall and myself."

"But…" Ginny protested.

"Ginny," McGonagall stepped to her, putting her hand on Ginny's shoulder. "I know how you feel now. I'm aware that it is you who is suffering the most, but I ask you to be patient. I promise to inform you as we get to know something."

Ginny nodded, watching the teachers leave.

"C'mon, let's go upstairs." said Hermione. "When McGonagall feels ready to tell us about Draco's admission, she'll do so."

"But I want to know it right now! It's about Harry!"

"I know, Ginny… She'll tell us."

Ginny murmured something like she wasn't convinced and left her brother and Hermione.

* * * * *

"I couldn't sleep at all." Ginny said over breakfast. "So I visited Hedwig. Poor owl… Since Harry got lost, she is… well… if I didn't know that animals couldn't commit suicide, I'd say that Hedwig is deliberately starving herself to death. The other owls started to bring her mice because she refused to go hunting, but she still wouldn't eat! You can't imagine how terrible she looks – bag of bones! I barely managed to persuade her to eat half a mouse!"

"I've never seen an owl this faithful…" Hermione replied sadly. 

"I don't know what exactly Malfoy did," Ron said, "but I hope that at last another 200 points will be taken from Slytherin."

"200 points?" Hermione snapped. "Is your friend worth that little to you? Malfoy deserves to be expelled for this! And that Dudley should be sent to jail!"

"I'd send Draco into Azkaban!" Ginny added, pouring herself a double portion of milk and taking a second helping of Yorkshire pudding, while Hermione got lost in Beautiful Bill's Biography, fourth volume.

"Isn't it a bit too much for you, sis?" Ron remarked.

"Much? Nay. I've been starving for days… I tried to persuade myself that it had nothing to do with my condition, but I was clearly deceiving myself… I'm hungry… I'm eating for two, you know."

"Yes, just feed my nephew well." Ron grinned.

"Your niece, you mean." Ginny corrected.

"Wanna bet?" the boy suggested.

"Okay." she nodded. "What's the stake?"

Ron shrugged. "Dunno… if I lose – which is out of the question – you'll get Pigwidgeon. You named him, after all."

"Good." Ginny agreed. "And if I lose – which is not likely, since women know things like this better than men – so, if you win, I'll never ever tell anyone about your little incident in the toilet. Remember that, don't you?"

Ron turned red, and Hermione dropped her book.

"Now I'm really curious, guys! You have mentioned it for the second time, Gin! What was that incident?"

"Be patient, Hermie. I'll tell you in six months." Ginny smirked.

"Keep dreaming." Ron grunted.

Suddenly Professor McGonagall entered the Great Hall, followed by all the other teachers.

"Children," she addressed them, "I presume that most of you already know about last night's incident. If not, then I need to inform you that a Muggle boy, Harry Potter's cousin visited us… Ms. Bullstrode, to be exact."

Millicent turned red and suddenly seemed extremely occupied with her pudding.

"Harry's cousin revealed some interesting pieces of information to us – about Mr. Malfoy's secret acts. I don't intend to let you in on the details, though. All I want to share with you is that Draco Malfoy strongly contributed to Potter's disappearance."

"That bastard!" Ron slapped the table.

"That's why he was so happy when that article 'THE BOY WHO GOT LOST – DUMBLEDORE'S BIG MISTAKE?' came out." Hermione hissed. "He _knew _that Harry was missing, since he saw to it personally!"

McGonagall carried on: "The staff has just finished a five-hour discussion on Mr. Malfoy's case, and come to the conclusion that he has to leave the school."

"Professor?" Hermione put up her hand as though they had been at a class. McGonagall didn't seem to notice her, so she stood up. "Professor, how did Draco and Dudley get rid of Harry?" He isn't dead, is he?"

"Ms. Granger, I can't answer either of your questions. The first needs to remain a secret, because we don't want the whole world – including You-Know-Who – know about it. We don't want to risk Harry's life even more. As for his possible death… I hope it hasn't happened."

Hermione sat down, pouting. She noticed the haunted look on the headmistress' face. Minerva seemed to have been shattered by the events, too.

"I can't believe that she'd hiding it from us." Ginny frowned.

Ron shrugged. "Once thing is sure: Malfoy's potion wasn't a poison – it didn't kill Harry, Ginny."

"Are you sure?"

"Of course I am." Ron put his arm around his little sister. "McGonagall would have told us if Harry was dead. But she hasn't told us, so Harry is alive. The potion must have done something else than kill him."

"But what?" Ginny was on the verge of tears.

"No idea." Ron shook his head. "But we'll get to know it, sooner or later."

"I hope sooner than later." Ginny replied with a sigh. "I don't want to lose my Harry forever."

"You won't." Hermione squeezed her hand. "Harry will be back, and Malfoy won't have another chance to harm him."

"That's sure." Ron agreed. "That asshole is sacked."

"I want to see him leave!" Hermione smirked. "And tell him what I think of him and all those damned pure-bloods!"

"But Hermione! Ginny and I are also pure-bloods!" Ron shouted indignantly.

"Okay, okay, Ron, I didn't want to hurt your feelings. I meant to hurt only Draco. Oh, if only I could spit him in the eye! That would be the greatest moment of my life! Yours too, right, Ginny?"

Ginny heaved a deep sigh. "I hate him, all right, and I'm happy that he is leaving, but… I wouldn't hurt him after all that's happened to him lately."

Ron and his girlfriend looked bewildered.

"Pregnancy's got on your nerves, sis." Ron stated.

"You don't know what I know, Ron." Ginny said. "You didn't read the _Evening Prophet_ yesterday."

"Why? What was in it?"

"Draco's father was taken into St. Mungo. Someone tortured him with the _Cruciatus_ curse. He's gone mad."

"Awww… that's sad." Hermione said. "If he wasn't Draco's father, I'd even feel sorry for him."

Ron chortled. "How very true!"

"You two don't understand it…" Ginny frowned. "It's terrible that so many people have to suffer such a terrible fate."

"So many? What do you mean?" Ron asked with an amused look on his freckled face. "Have Crabbe and Goyle's daddies gone crazy, too?"

"No." Ginny replied sullenly. "Not their parents… Neville's."

* * * * *

"… and that was how Harry Potter got lost, My Lord." Goyle finished his speech.

"Ah, interesting news you got there, Goyle." Lord Voldemort smiled maliciously. "Good that your son is a friend of Drakie Malfoy's."

Goyle bowed slightly. "I'm glad to have been of service to you, My Lord."

Voldemort nodded. "Strange that I had to get to know this from you… I would have expected my faithful servant at Hogwarts to let me in on such a secret… he'll pay for this… well, never mind." he directed his attention to the death-eaters. "You know, that Lucius Malfoy was sillier than I thought. He opposed me, to no avail. We got to know it eventually… he should have told me… I wouldn't have needed to implement _Crucio _on him…" he shook his head. "Such a fool doesn't deserve to be one of my death-eaters. Strange… I thought he was cunning… What a disappointment. Oh, well," he shrugged, "I still have enough followers… not to mention my good old servant at Hogwarts… I don't need Lucius, neither his pathetic little son. Okay, let's drop the topic. The Malfoys aren't my primary concern for the moment."

"What is it then, My Lord?" Legrange asked. "Potter?"

"No, my faithful death-eater." Voldemort replied. "Potter's lost, all right. I'll get him later and kill him, but that can wait."

Nott spoke up. "Can wait? Isn't killing Potter your number one goal, My Lord?"

"Not now." the dark lord's mouth tucked into a smirk. "I've got to know something extremely important… well… I got to know it almost three years ago, but only now has the time arrived to make use of that information."

"What is that very important thing, My Master?" Wormtail cut in.

"Immortality, Wormtail…" Voldemort cackled. "Immortality…"

The death-eaters exchanged knowing looks. They knew that their Lord had always considered immortality as his greatest aim in life. 

"Do you mean that recipe you got from…" Wormtail began.

"Oh, yes." the dark lord sneered, his snakelike red eyes glinting with hellish glee.

"And what does that recipe include?" Macnair was curious.

"Some very common ingredients, and a bit of Potter's help." Voldemort answered.

"Potter's help?" Legrange furrowed his brow under his cape.

"Yes. Potter's help." the dark lord nodded.

"But, My Lord, haven't you just said that finding Potter isn't urgent now?" Nott reasoned. "How can you gain eternal life with his help, if you don't have him?"

"Oh, never worry about that, Nott." Voldemort replied. "Our Harry has already provided me with something I'll need for the recipe of the _Potion of Eternity_."

"What has he provided you with?" Wormtail inquired. "His blood?"

"Oh, no, you fool. His blood was only necessary for my rebirth. For gaining eternal life I'll use _something else that belongs to Potter…"_

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	24. A born talent

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A/N: thanx for all the reviews, people, you are wonderful readers! More than 80 reviews since the last chapter came out! I'm really, really proud!!!

After last chapter most of you started guessing about Voldemort's plans – I'm not telling you whether your guesses were right or wrong, I hope you understand.

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Tayla Riddle: I hope you didn't freeze while camping! (bbrrrr… I wouldn't go camping in winter!)

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LOLOLO: here, you are in my a/n! I also think Voldie rocks (though I don't like him).

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maybe baby: thanks for your good-luck wish on my exams – I'll need it!

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sugarhi-san: of course I'll continue the story to the end! Don't worry, I'm not letting it to go to waste. (I have already written the whole fic, I'm only making smaller changes before I post the new chapters, so you have nothing to worry about, the story does have an end :-)

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Mikey: you asked how long it takes to write a chapter. No, not 3 days – as I have mentioned it to some people (like to sugarhi-san right above you), the story is already ready. I wrote it during the summer, and it took usually 1-2 days to write a chapter. (Of course I didn't have to study during the summer-holiday, so I had time to write.) Sorry, I have to disappoint you: Ron won't impregnate Hermione in this fic. I'm thinking about a new fic which I'll probably write next summer, and in that one they will have kids, but not in this story. Voldie put Cruciatus only on Lucius – Narcissa wasn't there, I assume she isn't a death eater. No, I never said I LOVED Draco, I said I LIKED him – that's a big difference. I truly like him, but I think he really deserved to get expelled. You'll see a bit more of Hagrid later on, but not too much.

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joebob1379: I got your mail – you were assuming the same as other people – but only two or three of the reviewers came close to reality – I'm not telling you, who. About hpgalleries: I already know that site – I've downloaded lots of pics from there. But thanks for mentioning it.

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Anna: glad to hear that you like Gilderoy. About Harry getting his memory back in time… well… yes and no. You'll see… and you'll be surprised, at least I hope so.

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Waldomier: nay, not his Firebolt! (funny idea, though!)

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PepsiAngel: you'll get more of Harry in Egypt in this chapter.

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PadmeSkywalker: you asked who the good old friend from Hogwarts was. Well… why should I tell you that? You'll find out in time!

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anastacy: of course the story has a happy ending! (IMHO you SHOULD write ending to your stories! I think that a story without an end is no real story – so go on and finish them!)

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Viviane: you asked about the length of the fic. Well, you've read about two-thirds of it.

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Shaun Wilson: thanks for the proposal – you made me laugh! I don't really care about your age… but I'm planning to marry Daniel Radcliffe, lol… (can't you go to an Internet cafe of something? I for one am sure that I wouldn't be able to live without the Net if my Internet provider went bankrupt… anyway, I can email you some of the next chapters but only in an un-edited form. If it's okay for you, then tell me!)

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Lady Lupin: now, that was a straightforward question! But sorry, cannot answer it!!!

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The silver star: good luck to your full length fic!

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sharliestar: sorry, no twins for Ginny – to me it would be a bit Star Wars-ish (especially a boy and a girl), and I think that it wouldn't be right in a HP story.

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K-K: oh, you also think Draco is sexy? Great! Same here! (sometimes the evil guys are the sexiest… even Snape…)

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Rosy Posy: you asked whether Ron and Herm will get up to something like Ginny and Harry – well, maybe *grin*

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Mandi: my name is Agnes – that's where the "Agi" comes from.

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obi_ewan_maul_lover: no, I'm not professional, I'm only writing for fun, not for money.

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Jade: you wrote that Ginny should be pregnant with someone else's baby – like Draco??? Sorry, I'm quite against the G/D thing.

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georgia: what? you really read it wrong! I NEVER wrote that all girls in her dorm were back – on the contrary, I wrote that all other girls were at home for the holidays, so Ginny had the dorm for herself.

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Maria: ooooooh, another poor one staying up all night and going to sleep at school/work! Please, people, don't do that! I don't want to be responsible for you getting bad grades or something! But thank for your compliment, Maria, I was really touched.

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cathie: you'll get to know about Ron's little toilet adventure. Sorry, no twins (see my reasons by "sharliestar")

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DragonSinger: yes, I supposed I'll be finished by the end of December, or I might post the final one or two chapters in January, I don't know yet. And yes, I have written the whole story (see my replies to sugarhi-san and Mikey). 

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Claire Thorpe: sorry about the suspense – and more is to come (my apologies!)

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Zenon Lee: you asked about the Green Flame Torch and the possibility of seeing a living Lily, James and Cedric – I can tell you only one thing: one can bring back only ONE person with the torch.

Okay, enough of me – on to the story! 

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Chapter 24

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A born talent

Four months had passed since Harry entered the secret chamber in the Great Pyramid, but hadn't talked to anyone about it. He and Sunny avoided the topic by silent mutual consent.

At the beginning of January they moved back into Abysmal's house, along with Mr. sun-Amun and Gilderoy (plus Abu, the monkey).

Abysmal took his holiday to continue Lockhart's therapy at a calmer place – his home.

Abdul the genie was beside himself with glee to have Harry and Gilderoy back – Lockhart was a very willing chat-partner. Soon Abdul knew everything about hydrating creams, hair-curling techniques and miscellaneous fashion papers like _Charming Wizard's Weekly_ or _Robe Mode._

Actually Abdul soon had enough of all these, and was grateful to Harry when he 'saved' him, engaging Gilderoy's attention.

While Mr. sun-Amun and Lockhart were having intensive therapies (hypnosis, memory-potions, etc.), Harry took apparating-disapparating classes together with Abysmal's daughter.

Sunny never managed to learn this difficult magic back at school, so her father hired a private teacher to tutor her. Since Harry was bored to death, they let him attend the classes.

According to Hassan ben Ibn – the apparating professor – Harry shouldn't have studied something this difficult without the knowledge of basic charms, so Harry was given some lessons on general magical techniques at first. It wasn't hard for him to re-learn the charms he had learnt earlier, back at Hogwarts. Of course he didn't remember a thing of Flitwick or McGonagall's lessons, but charms were a bit like swimming or cycling: once you learned them, you cannot forget them – they are deeply engraved into you. You can forget them with your mind, but your reflexes still remember them. That was exactly what happened to Harry, so he advanced in learning at a tremendous speed. Mr. sun-Amun once voiced his opinion that Harry must have studied at a wizard school before he lost his memories. Hassan ben Ibn was very satisfied with the boy's progress in apparating, too.

By the end of April Harry managed to perform a perfect jump from Abysmal's house to the Great Pyramids. Sunny was even a bit jealous of his friend's success.

"I have heard about your wonderful apparating, son." Abysmal told the boy at lunch. "Congratulations.'

"Thank you, sir." Harry smiled. "I hope I'll never do a wrong jump or get splinched. It was bad enough when I apparated in Selim Ackbar's harem instead of at the market place last month."

"I bet you enjoyed it, though." Lockhart chuckled. "So many pretty women… I surely would have found it very amusing… you too, Mr. Ravin?" he turned to Abysmal's guest from India, who had arrived only days earlier.

"Oh, very much, Sahib." Ravin grinned. "But as you know, I'm not here to discuss women, but to handle _Rocket 3000_ broomsticks, nothing else."

"Oh, come on, Ravin…" Abysmal rolled his eyes. "We are aware that you guys in India have only been using brooms since Great Britain colonised your land, but I simply find it an abomination that your folk, the one that produced the best flying carpets for millennia, is now sticking to those worthless British products! You should have more pride than to let the British flood your markets with brooms sold on dumping prices!"

Ravin held his hands up. "Calm down, my friend, and listen to me. I admit that we, Indians might have given up something from our national values, but this year carpets are simply not saleable – you know why."

Abysmal nodded. "The Run."

"Exactly, my friend. Because of _the Run_." Ravin said. "Such a race hasn't been held for more than two centuries now, and since India was given the honour of arranging it, we have to acquiesce in using broomsticks. Carpets aren't appropriate for the Moon Run."

Harry curiously perked up his ears. He had never heard of a Moon Run before.

"I know." Abysmal replied. "I've heard people singing praises about your player, Sandokan."

"Oh, yes. He is a wonderfully talented man, and no doubt will win the race for India. Especially because he has an exceptional trainer…" Ravin straightened him self proudly. "Me."

At that moment a huge, colourful parrot flew into the room dropping a letter into Ravin's lap.

"An express-mail." he stated, opening the envelope. "Do you know how much such a message costs? I could buy half the Taj Mahal for that amount."

Ravin started to read the letter. To Harry it seemed that the Indian man's face suddenly turned white. "Mr. Ravin, are you all right?" he asked.

The Indian wizard looked up, his lips trembling. "Everything is lost. Sandokan fell from a broomstick and died on the spot… India won't have a competitor."

Abysmal reached out to pat Ravin's arm to assure him about their compassion.

Abruptly they heard a squeal from outside.

"Sunny!" Abysmal and Harry recognised the voice at once. They all dashed outside to see the girl riding a carpet that had gone berserk. It was wildly tossing in the air, clearly wanting to drop the unfortunate girl.

"Heeeeelp!" she screamed.

Harry didn't hesitate for a single second: he leapt to a bunch of broomsticks (brought by Ravin to Egypt with selling intentions), and grabbed one. In the next instant he was up in the air, flying as fast as an arrow, zigzagging among the turrets of Systematic Alley. Had he looked back, he would have seen that Abysmal and Mr. Ravin got on a carpet and followed him – though their carpet flew by far not as fast as the _Rocket 3000_ broomstick that Harry was riding. 

Anck-sun-Amun's carpet made a sudden hairpin bend, Harry following it with the broom. The mad carpet ducked under a rope hanging between two houses, Sunny's head got caught in a drying robe, dragging it along with her on the ride. Harry turned the broom downwards, gaining on Sunny's 'transport'. 

The carpet flew into a house through a window, two seconds later left it through another window.

Harry didn't think, just followed it, casting a superficial glance at the family having lunch in the house, then was out in the open air again.

That was when he saw the girl's crazy carpet bounce for the last time, throwing Sunny off itself.

"HEEEEELP!" the young woman cried, falling at an extreme speed.

Harry, however, was quicker than a lightning – he dived and caught her two feet above the ground.

For a minute the two youngsters were too shocked to speak, hear or see anything, but as Harry put Sunny down, the cheering of the crowd struck them from all directions.

Mr. sun-Amun jumped down from his carpet and hurried up to them, gathering them both into a bear-like hug, laughing and sobbing at once.

"My son, you… you have saved my daughter's life!" he yelled, squeezing Harry so much that he barely was able to breath.

"Thank you." the girl whispered and kissed him – on the lips. "Thank you, my hero."

Harry turned ruby red, and mumbled something like 'no need to thank'.

"Sahib!" came Ravin's voice, as he elbowed his way through the crowd. "Sahib, I have never, never ever seen anyone fly like this! Not even Sandokan! You are a born talent!"

Harry grinned.

"How can you fly a broomstick this well?" Sunny wondered.

"I don't know." Harry shrugged. "I just… just felt it instinctively, I guess."

As he got sucked into the circle of cheering and congratulating witches and wizards, Harry didn't see the greedy grin on Ravin's face.

* * * * *

Before sunset all the _Rocket 3000_ broomsticks (a new development of the constructor of the Nimbus series) were sold.

Mr. Abysmal declared that he was ready to adopt Harry in order to express his gratitude to him. However, Sunny didn't seem too happy about the idea. Not that she didn't want to have a brother… she just wanted Harry not as a brother – not at all. 

That evening, on the terrace of Harry's room, she made it clear for him.

"Sunny…" Harry took a step backwards. "Listen… this is too fast for me."

"Fast? You've spent four months here!" she pressed.

"Still I think that you only _think_ that you like me, because I saved your life, but soon you'll realise that this isn't love, not even attraction… its just gratitude, maybe admiration… but surely not love."

"What do you know about my feelings, huh?" she pursed her lips. "Why do you think I followed you into the pyramid in the first place?"

"Curiosity." Harry guessed.

She shook her head. "Worry… worry that I might lose you."

Harry let out a deep sigh. "Don't tell me this. Please…"

"I love you. I can't help."

"You don't even know who I am!" he protested.

"But I know WHAT you are: a generous, courageous, open-hearted young man, who I love and respect."

Harry shook his head. "I cannot reciprocate your feelings. I feel… deep in my heart I feel that I HAVE someone I _love_. I don't remember her, but maybe I will, sometime."

"You are giving up a certain love you could get from me, for an uncertain love of someone you don't even remember? That's ridiculous!" she shouted at him and hurried out of his room.

"Oh, shit! I've hurt her feelings!" Harry sighed, directing his gaze at the stars. The jet-black curtain of space, littered with million sparkling diamonds somehow always managed to calm him.

He had no idea that someone, at the other end of the world had been inspecting the same scenery, thinking of him.

Ginny was seven months pregnant, and had almost totally given up on hope of ever seeing the father of her child again. Still, she never ceased to think about him – never ceased to love him.

None of the students was still mocking her about her condition, even Peeves got bored of it.

Ron and Hermione had been a great support for her during these months – though they also suffered a lot from the loss of their best friend.

Ron named the niffler he got from Harry, Wendelin, after Wendelin the Weird. He remembered how much Harry liked that story about the witch who was burnt 47 times at the stake, enjoying it terribly.

All they knew about Professor Dumbledore was that he'd moved to live with Sirius and was travelling around the world in search for Harry. Lupin was doing the same as Dumbledore – thus the DADA teacher was still Snape, to the students' greatest regret.

After having visited the depressed Hedwig in the owlery, Ginny was sitting in the Gryffindor common room, gazing out into the night, her eyelids getting heavier by the minute. She didn't even realise and she was fast asleep, sitting in a chair before the window, her hands resting on her expanding belly.

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"Ginny… Ginny…" a hazy form appeared from the mist. It had red hair and sparkling green eyes. Ginny knew at once, whom she was facing.

"Mrs. Potter…" she whispered.

The woman smiled sweetly. "Just call me Lily, my child. We are going to be related, after all."

Ginny shook her head. "Don't think so, Lily. Harry's gone and no one knows where he is… or do you?"

The ghost-Lily smiled secretively. "Oh, yes, dear, I do. But I cannot tell you."

"Then why have you come? What else do you want to tell me?"

"Only one thing, dear." Lily reached out to touch Ginny's face – strangely her hand felt real on Ginny's skin. "One thing: not to give up hope. Never give it up. Promise me that you won't." Lily now placed her hands on Ginny's belly. "Promise… for my grandchild."

"I promise, Lily." the girl said. "Um, Lily… could you tell… is it a boy or a girl?"

Mrs. Potter chuckled. "Of course I could tell… but let it be a surprise, dear. I have to go now. Take care of yourself and my grandchild."

"I will." Ginny replied, and woke up.

Did she dream it at all? she wondered.

* * * * *

"Sahib!" Ravin beckoned Harry to himself after Harry had left his room for a nice night-time stroll. He simply needed to clear his mind from the disturbing thoughts – the most disturbing of which was Sunny's declaration of love.

"Mr. Ravin?" he raised an eyebrow. "What are you doing here at such a late hour?"

"Waiting for an opportunity to talk to you, Sahib."

"About what?"

"Your flight today. It was amazing."

"Thank you, but you've already told me that."

"I have something else to tell you, Sahib. To ask you something." the Indian said.

"What?"

"You heard us talking about the Moon Run, didn't you?"

"Yes, I did." Harry shrugged. "Though I don't know what it is."

"It is _fame_. It is _wealth_. It is _glory_." Ravin replied, and added in thought: *It is _money _– for me, too.* His eyes glinted strangely. "I'm offering all of these to you."

"To me?" Harry gaped. "Why?"

"Our competitor is dead. We need another, who'd play for India."

"And you want ME to… that's crazy! I'm British, as far as I know…"

"British, Eskimo or Papua… who cares? It's the greatest opportunity of your life! Don't miss it!"

Harry frowned, thinking for a moment. "When would you want to set off?"

"Tomorrow, or the day after tomorrow."

"I'm coming if we can set off right now." Harry stated. He didn't have anything here – only a great deal of trouble awaiting him if he didn't leave immediately. He didn't want to take chances with Abysmal's daughter, and Abysmal's wrath – if he turned Sunny down.

"As you wish, Sahib. I'm ready to go anytime." Ravin bowed slightly.

"Okay." the boy nodded. "I'll get my monkey. Wait for me here."

* * * * *

Before going to bed that night, Gilderoy Lockhart took the very last portion of memory potion. According to Abysmal, it had to bring back those very few memories that were still missing.

Shortly after sunrise, Abysmal was shaken out of his slumber by someone hammering on the door.

"Who's there?" he mumbled.

"It's me, Gilderoy!" came the excited voice.

"Come in!" Abysmal shouted and sat up. Lockhart burst into the room. "You drank the last portion last night, I presume?"

"Yes!" Gilderoy nodded, extremely nervous about something.

"Then… why are you so upset? Hasn't it worked?"

"On the contrary! It has!" Gilderoy shouted. "I've regained the last pieces of my memories!"

"Then?" Abysmal raised his eyebrows. "What's the matter?"

"Do you know… do you know who the boy is, who came with me?"

"No."

"HE IS HARRY POTTER!!!!!" Gilderoy yelled.

"What?" sun-Amun jumped out of his bed. "Impossible! He doesn't have the scar!"

"Maybe lost it…" Gilderoy came up with the silliest possibility. "Well, okay… maybe some curse made it invisible, or the like…" he gabbled. "But it's him! I taught him for a whole year back at Hogwarts! IT IS HARRY POTTER, believe me!"

"Okay… okay… calm down, and let's talk to the boy."

"Father!" Sunny burst into the room. "He's gone!"

"Who?" Lockhart and Abysmal asked in unison.

"HE!" Sunny yelled. "HE!"

"Harry?" Gilderoy blanched. "NO!"

"He's left a message telling that he was grateful for everything he had been given here, but didn't want to disturb us anymore… didn't want to be a burden."

"Burden? Harry Potter? Oh, my gosh!" Gilderoy yelled.

"Harry… _Potter_?" Anck-sun-Amun remained rooted to the spot. "You're kidding, aren't you?"

The two men shook their heads.

"He… can't have been Harry Potter, can he?" Sunny whispered.

"He IS Harry Potter. This morning I finally managed to remember the last year of my life before the amnesia – I had been teaching at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, and happened to teach the famous Harry Potter, too."

"But… but… he didn't have the scar!" the girl protested.

"It was STILL him." Lockhart stated. "Harry Potter…"

"… The Boy Who Lived… who saved my daughter's life…" Abysmal finished the sentence with a miserable expression. "And I couldn't help him!"


	25. The new seeker

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A/N: I know that this "top stuff" is a bit boring (someone told me so), but others (most of you) seem to be delighted when I answer you reviews – this one is going to be long, sorry. 

Okay, first of all (as always): thanks for all the reviews! It is always wonderful for an author to get feedback – especially to get this many! Love you all, people!

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Vanilla: thank you, I really liked your comment.

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Lyny: no, it won't be Bill, he cannot meet Harry in Egypt, because: nr.1: Bill in my fic isn't working in Egypt, nr.2: Harry left Egypt in the last chapter. Of course you'll see the baby's birth (two more chapters to go until then!).

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Rose: sorry, I never wanted to torture anyone :-)

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Ariana Black: I have to tell you – as I have told everyone else – that I am going to have exams soon (nine exams and lots of other tests till the end January), and don't really have time to read people's stories. I also promised them – and promise now you, too – that I will read their fics as soon as possible. I hope you understand.

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hermione potter: Harry won't go back to Ginny in this chapter, because this chapter won't even have Harry in it. (But don't worry, it will happen soon.) Thanks for the good luck wish – I'll need it!

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teacherchez: it will be finished at the end of December or the beginning of January.

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Shaun Wilson: "Sahib" means (I quote from Longman's Dictionary of Contemporary English): _used as a title of respect for a man in India, especially in former times_. Have you seen any films or read any books in which Indian people called the British men "sahib" and the British women "mem-sahib"? For example the Little princess – sahib is used a lot there. You wrote that my story is predictable – it isn't too predictable, since it isn't Dumbledore or Sirius who'll find Harry. Not at all.

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Blondie in Disguise: don't worry, he'll get his memory back.

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Mikey: sorry, there won't be 150 chapters… but there'll be more than the one-fifth of it. Anyway, it IS Harry, of course – using doppelgangers would be a bit cheap, wouldn't it?

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WiLdWiTcH: I haven't had my tests yet – I'll have them from next week until the end of January. *sigh* I'm not looking forward to them – but next week I'm gonna see the film at last, so at least there IS something to look forward to :-)

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Waldomier: no, Ginny isn't having twins. I have already given the reason: it would be way too Star Wars-ish. (not that I don't like SW, I like it, but I don't want to make HP be like SW).

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zach: thank you so much!

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jennaration: yes, I have written the whole story. About Voldie's servant I can tell you only one thing: sometimes things seem to be impossible because they are too obvious – sometimes they seem to be obvious because they are impossible. The same theory works here.

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RonWeasley'sGirlfriend: maybe… *wink* 

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Star Surfer: there are way too many stories with H and G together at Hogwarts, I wanted to make Harry DO something for a change – see the world, have adventures… but at the end he'll come back to good old Hogwarts.

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Blondie2592: yes, Harry will get his memory back. There are more than 30 chapters.

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PepsiAngel: Someone will find Harry. They won't bring him to Hogwarts – but to somewhere else. 

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Lucretia: more Sirius in this chapter!

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obi_ewan_maul_lover: yes, "sahib" is Harry. Read the reply I wrote to Shaun Wilson!

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Zenon Lee: no, don't worry, Harry won't get himself into trouble because of apparition. (Did Rowling really say that Lockhart wouldn't be back???? Oh, my, that's sad! I like that character so much!)

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Hermione Gulliver: no, the Egyptians won't follow him – they have no idea where he went!

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Julietta: you wrote the longest review ever, so I'm going to write the longest reply ever. First of all: I'm not offended at all – I wrote back in chapter one that constructive criticism was welcome (but not flames.) I didn't consider your review as a flame, of course. You wrote that Ginny wasn't okay. Well, I can tell you only one thing: from the books we don't really get to know her character - all we know is that she is shy and she is in love with Harry. So, without special traits (like Hermione being an insufferable know-it-all) I had no idea how to describe her. Maybe in book five we'll get to know Ginny better. About hate mail… I didn't think of it at all – and I won't include anything like that. Ginny has her problems without hate mails, thank you. About Draco: I thought even he wasn't that evil, and even he could be shattered by something. I wanted to show him "broken". Anyway, he had already mocked Ginny about her bastard child back in chapter 14 (that's why Hermione put the body-binding curse on him, exposing him to Peeves, who painted him.) About the battle scene: yes, there will be one, but not at Hogwarts, and neither Moody nor Mundungus will be there. About Voldie being stupid: no, he isn't of course. I gave him a VERY good reason to "be silly". About the removal of Harry's scar: it will be explained, you have no idea what a simple explanation it has! And even Dumbledore can't know everything – there could be a way to remove scars (correction: not remove them, just make them invisible). About the wet dream: well, I only wrote it to make that chapter a bit funnier, because it was the one in which Dumbledore was sacked, and it was too dark in itself. Anyway, after Harry's wet dream Neville also talked about his dream and there was a little detail in there that (surprisingly to me) no one noticed… though it foretold something (I don't mean H and G's wedding, but something else). About Sirius: of course I know what "Canis Maior" means: I'm an amateur astronomer!!! I know all constellations visible from the northern globe! I know their Latin names by heart! Okay, that was all – Merry Christmas to you, too!

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K-K: no, James won't come and see Ginny. Yes, Dumbledore will come back. Yes, Harry will go on the Run. 

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Nikkianna: you've seen it 3 times! I envy you! I'll only see it next Thursday for the first time!

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lololo: well, once I wrote a sci-fi adventure story and lots of parodies - but all in Hungarian, so I cannot share them with you. You asked where I live: Hungary (central Europe). I'm 20.

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mandi: you asked why I didn't upload more than one chapters at a time. Well – I wouldn't get as many reviews, would I? Lol… anyway, the rest of the story still needs editing, so that's the real reason why I'm putting up only one chapter at a time. Still, you get three chapters a week! Other fanfic authors never post their new chapters this quickly, do they?

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Super saya-jin Gotan: well, your guess was almost okay – just almost… because it would be way too simple if they just met Harry, cast Crucio on him and he'd live happily with Ginny forever… I won't make it this easy for them.

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2Coolio: no, Ginny and Sunny will never meet.

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Jenna B: thanks for you compliment on my English (see, I did put you in my a/n!)

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D2: please, don't neglect your homework because of my story! If you got bad grades at school because of me, I'd feel guilty…

Right, that was LONG. Sorry.

I have to warn you that this chapter isn't exciting – it is the shortest of the whole story, a transition chapter, but in this one I'll start to give some attention to someone who has been shunned by me (and by 99% of the fanfic authors out there). I simply thought he deserved some attention.

Okay, on to chapter 25! 

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Chapter 25

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The new seeker

Lupin dropped himself on the sofa, letting out a resigned sigh. "First I went to France and Germany, but no one there saw Harry. Then I visited the Scandinavian countries - still nothing. Neither in Italy, nor in Greece. Spanish and Portuguese wizards didn't meet him, either. Not even the Hungarian shamans or the Transylvanian vampires… though the latter would never admit if they happened to see him. They never talk about their 'donors'."

"Don't scare me, Remus!" Sirius frowned. "I don't want to imagine Harry sleeping in a coffin by day and go hunting for blood by night!"

"Take it easy, Sirius!" Dumbledore interjected. "Our friend, Remus, has a vivid imagination. Of course the V.C.R. would never attack Harry."

"The V.C.R?"

"Yes. The Vampire's Community of Romania. I signed a treaty with them, back in November."

"But Albus… is a treaty signed by vampires enough guarantee for you that they wouldn't harm any of us? Vampires aren't famous for their reliability." Black commented.

"Sirius is right." Lupin nodded. "Albus, does anyone know anything in America?"

"Alas not." Dumbledore shook his head. " I spent the last week travelling throughout the States, visiting all wizarding colonies, but to no avail. Neither the IMF nor the USD know anything about Harry's whereabouts."

"IMF? USD?" Sirius furrowed his brow. 

"International Magician's Federation, United Sorcerer's Department." Albus explained.

"Oh. I see." Black said with a rather bewildered expression.

"Look, a falcon!" Remus yelled. 

A bird flew through the open window, directly to Dumbledore, dropping a letter into his lap.

"Strange… a falcon? Only Arabian wizards use them as message-carriers." Dumbledore said, unfolding the letter.

As he started to read, the usual calmness of his features disappeared at once, to be replaced by a shocked expression.

"Bad news?" Sirius asked.

"It depends on your point of view." Albus replied.

The other two wizards raised their eyebrows. "What do you mean?"

"Harry has been found…" Dumbledore started, "…then lost again."

Sirius shook his head in disbelief. "Why? How? Where? When?"

"He spent four months in Egypt, and yes, our suspicion was right - he'd lost his memories."

"Has someone recognised him from his scar?" Remus cut in.

"Nay. He doesn't have the scar anymore."

"WHAT?" Sirius gaped. "Scars like his never disappear! You know it as well as I do!"

"Yes, I do." Albus nodded. "Still, he doesn't have it anymore. Don't ask how it happened, because I have no idea. Really. But at least we know now why no one recognised him up till now… everyone was looking for a boy with the famous lightning-shaped scar…"

"But… if he no more has the scar, who could recognised him, then?"

"Gilderoy Lockhart."

"Lockhart? That buffoon? I thought he lost his memories long ago." Remus frowned. "That was why you needed me in third year."

"Right." Dumbledore answered. "He has just regained his memories, thanks to Abysmal sun-Amun, an Arabian memory-back-lurer. As soon as he remembered everything, he realised that the boy, who was accompanying him to Egypt, was none other than our Harry… But unfortunately he was too late, and by the time the realisation struck him, Harry had gone."

"Where to?" Black asked nervously.

"That is something that no one knows, my friend."

"Okay. He might still be somewhere in Egypt. I'll go and search for him." Sirius stated. "I'll ask Bill Weasley to come with me, he's a real expert on Egypt."

"Do so, Sirius. I will continue my search in Asia. Who knows… he might be anywhere." Lupin added.

"Good. I'll send an owl to the IMF and tell them to continue their search – for a boy WITHOUT a scar…" Dumbledore sighed. "I still can't believe… no scar… this makes finding him even more difficult… All right, we must never give up hope! I'm going to travel to Australia tomorrow. And never forget: we have to be as inconspicuous as possible. We don't want to attract attention… especially not that of Voldemort. I hope you understand - he surely has heard about Harry's disappearance. He might also know about his amnesia. The boy is vulnerable, totally defenceless. If the Dark Lord gets him now, he'll be dead. We mustn't risk that."

"Of course, Albus. You can count on us. We'll be as inconspicuous as one can be." Sirius nodded. "I'm going to fetch Bill."

Dumbledore watched them leave. *It's _not you_ who has to die, Harry. You _must _be found before Voldemort… *

* * * * *

"Oh, no!" Ron moaned, dropping himself into an armchair in the Gryffindor common room.

"What happened?" Hermione looked up from her arithmancy book.

"We cannot play the match against Slytherin in three days." the boy replied, his voice shaking with rage.

"Why not?"

"Luke Turpin, the deputy-seeker has just got a message telling that his mother had a car accident. He and his sister - the Ravenclaw Lisa Turpin - are both going to leave for two weeks, or more. We - won't - have - a - seeker!"

"Find someone else." Hermione replied coldly. She wasn't that interested in Quidditch since Harry left, and now, that their exams were very near, she didn't care for anything else but studying. "Luke wasn't that good a seeker, after all."

"But he was still the best after Harry."

"The best?" Hermione looked amused. "That's why you lost the match against Ravenclaw?"

Ron covered his face with his hands. "Stop mocking, please… it is bad enough for us without your teasing. Anyway, it wasn't Luke's fault. Slytherin's new seeker decoyed him."

Hermione smiled bitterly. "A good seeker cannot be decoyed."

"I know, I know…" Ron sighed. "Since Charlie graduated, Gryffindor has had five seekers, and only one of them was a good one - Harry… But Harry isn't likely to return for the Gryffindor-Slytherin match."

"No, he isn't." she whispered.

"Hey, guys, I'm bored!" Dean popped into a chair next to Ron. "The school has never been this quiet! It's unbearable! You know, I almost miss Malfoy! At least he always provided us with something to be upset about, but now there's nothing like that! Professor Dumbledore was a funny guy, but McGonagall is a morose spinster - always so keen on keeping order at Hogwarts! Uh, terrible! If it weren't for Quidditch, I'd die of boredom!"

"Boredom?" Hermione frowned. "If you'd start preparing for the N.E.W.T.s, you wouldn't be bored!"

"Oh, come on, Herm!" Seamus joined them, "We still have two months before them! That's plenty of time! Now let's only worry about the match against Slytherin!"

"There won't be a match." Ron replied sullenly.

"What?" the Finnigan-Thomas duo shouted.

"Luke has left for two-weeks. Family problems. We have no seeker."

"Shit!" Dean slapped the table. "Can't you find another? Anyone?"

"We have three days before the match, Dean." Ron reminded him. "All capable of flying are on the team already. All others are blunderers. You remember how difficult it was to replace Ginny with someone else in November? It was a wonder that Natalie turned out to be a talented chaser."

"What's up, boys?" Colin Creevey approached, followed by his brother, Dennis. They had been the Gryffindor chasers together with Ginny for the last two years. Now they were playing with Natalie McDonald, who had to play instead of the heavily pregnant Ginny.

"Everything is lost, boys." Ron turned to them. "Turpin is away for two weeks. We have no one to play seeker."

"And... and… Neville?" Dennis mumbled shyly.

"_Neville_?" Seamus and Dean burst out laughing "He doesn't even know what a broomstick looks like!"

"But he does!" Dennis protested. "He told me about his cousin, who lives in Canada. Neville spent the summer at his place… do you know who his cousin is?"

"Nay." Ron shrugged, not really paying attention. "Who?"

"William Whittby!" Colin replied eagerly.

All the others gasped, with the exception of Hermione, who was deeply absorbed in studying.

"Whittby? The world-famous keeper of the Vancouver Vultures?" Ron almost fell off his chair.

"Yup." Colin nodded. "And he had been lecturing Neville on flying the whole summer."

"What if he did?" Seamus wrinkled his nose. "No matter how cool the teacher is, if the student is totally hopeless. And Neville is."

"Don't you talk about him that way, until you haven't seen him fly!" Dennis yelled - something absolutely out-of-character for the shy, silent boy.

"Why, have you?" Dean knitted his eyebrows. "Have you seen him _fly_?"

"We have." the Creevey brothers replied in unison. "He spent the last week of the holidays at our place. We are good friends with him, you know."

"Yeah, I know." Ron sighed. "And how long did it take the broom to drop him?"

"It didn't drop him!" Colin replied with clenched fists. "He flew wonderfully! And he knows how to perform the Whittby-Corkscrew! His cousin taught him!"

"The Whittby-Corkscrew?" Ron gave him a 'don't-take-me-for-a-fool'-stare. "That's extremely dangerous! Neville would never do anything dangerous! Anyway, not even Harry knows how to do that corkscrew!"

"But Neville does!" Dennis snapped. "We've seen him do it over daddy's cow barn. Even Dolly, our cow, was appalled to see it! She got so shocked that she forgot to give milk that day!"

"Ah, very convincing, huh? A cow, petrified by Neville's performance…" Ron smirked. "Okay, guys, what do we do?"

"You're the captain, you tell us!" Dean shrugged.

"But…" Ron began.

Hermione suddenly looked up from her book. "I thought you had more sense, dear."

"What do you mean?" Ron frowned.

"Had I been in your place, I would already be looking for Neville."

"You think we should…"

"Admit him to the team?" she finished. "Exactly." and with that, she buried herself into her book again.

* * * * *

Next morning the first lesson of the seventh-year Gryffindors was Potions, together with the Slytherins.

Since Draco had been expelled, Professor Snape constantly had a bad mood, making both his classes - Potions and Defense Against the Dark Arts - unbearable for all the students.

Once Parvati broke down so much because of the professor's cruelties, that she ran out of class. Snape had all intentions of getting her expelled, but McGonagall sided with the girl, making Severus even angrier. Some of the students even started to plan a strike and write a petition to the Educational Department of the Ministry of Magic, demanding that Snape leaves.

Recently he had been even more terrible than before – no one knew what, but something had happened to him – something he was keeping a secret. All the students and teachers saw was that he looked even paler than usual, with a weary look in his eyes – a look of a man who had suffered a lot. From what? No one knew.

After all these, it was a great surprise to all students that the professor seemed to be in a good mood in the morning of 2nd May. He looked extremely pleased about something.

After he'd written the ingredients of a rat-poison on the blackboard, he walked up to Ron, who was standing between Hermione and Neville, spilling flobberworm-saliva into his cauldron.

"Weasley, Weasley… I thought you had higher standards than that…" Snape whispered into his ear, so that only his two neighbours could hear it. "Next time you'll ask a dung-beetle to play seeker… poor Potter, did he know who you resigned to choose to supply his place, he'd surely commit suicide! This will be the most shameful defeat Gryffindor has ever suffered. Potter had better never know what you let HIS team become… tsk, tsk, tsk, this guy," the pointed at Neville, "is the most pathetic creature I've ever met. Be prepared for a complete rout, Weasley."

* * * * *

"I can't do it, Ron!" Neville whimpered as they left the classroom. "Snape was right, I'm a dupe. We are gonna lose…"

"Listen to me, Neville!" the red-haired boy grabbed the new seeker's arm. "Snape only told me that in your presence, to make you insecure… don't even listen to him!"

"But, but, he's right, Ron… I'm really pathetic. I'll never ever make my family proud of me…I'm a loser!"

"Are not!"

"Am too!"

"ARE NOT!" Ron yelled. "Be on the Quidditch pitch at six o'clock sharp! This is not a request - this is an order!"

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	26. A hopeless match

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A/N: well, what should I begin with? Okay, the usual: thank you for all the reviews, people!!!

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Nikkianna: no idea whether Will Whittby is handsome, but let's say that he is :-) Yes, you are right about Neville's dream.

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Rodi: I don't care what the film is like – I'm gonna watch it. (I already have tickets for two showings)

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Aaridys: it might be a sacrilege to make Harry impregnate a girl while still at school, but have you ever looked around in the HP section of ffnet? Have you seen all those NC-17 fics? Or the slash-ones? IMHO those are real sacrileges. Compared to them my story is totally innocent – isn't it?

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eternity: originally Harry was the Gryffindor Quidditch captain, but after his departure Ron took over the lead. About Neville messing up the match… you'll find out in a couple of minutes.

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PadmeSkywalker: Merry Christmas to you, too!

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anastacy: good for you that you only have to sit for two exams – I'll have nine (not to mention all the tests before them). 

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Andromeda: (wow, I like that constellation, especially M31 – the Andromeda galaxy!) Have you really read it three times??? When I started to write this fic – back in summer – I never thought that people would like it so much. I expected to get about 5-6 reviews per chapter… so this is really surprising – in a good way!

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Fiona chan: my mom told the same: she didn't like Gilderoy before she read my story, but now she likes him :-) About your guess: well… who knows? *I, of course, lol*

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Gwen Fifortry: I'll check out your story as soon as my exams let me have some time (which isn't too possible until the end of January *sigh* I won't even have proper Christmas and New Year, since I'll have one exam on 27th December, the next on 2nd January… life isn't fair.)

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princesswitch: of course I'll bring Dumbledore back – at the end of the fic, no sooner.

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Alexander Pheonix: I didn't think this was a cliffie. Was it???

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zzxm: well, there will be one chapter in which Voldie will be a main-character. I'm not letting him stay totally in background – he needs to be evil, and he cannot be really evil in the background.

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Shaun Wilson: I don't know whether your ignorance is due to your age or lack of education, but… may I ask what you pay with in the shops? Galleons, maybe? I thought you were American, thus paid with USD – USA Dollar!!!! About IMF: I didn't think of Mission Impossible (haven't even seen that movie, cause I can't stand Tom Cruise) – the real IMF is the International Monetary Fund. Of course you weren't supposed to know it, because it's an economic institution. About Neville: IMHO he isn't the type of guy who would brag. Draco would, but most definitely not Neville. 

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fire*child1: in chapter 18 Ginny was complaining to Ron and Hermione that Snape was saying nasty things about her condition. I didn't make him do it "on-screen", but he did it, nevertheless.

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Ariana Black: where did Harry go? Just start reading this chapter, you'll know.

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Tuft19: yes, Neville DID fall off his broom in book one. But my story isn't book one – a fanfic author has the freedom to write anything he/she wants. Anyway, everyone can have hidden abilities that don't get revealed until a certain age. For example I only turned out to be good at drawing at the age of 13. Neville turned out to be a good flier when he was 16.

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Waldomier: Ginny in this chapter is 7 months pregnant. 

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D2: about Harry taking his place back as seeker… it will happen but not in a way that would ruin your day, I promise! You'll learn everything about the Moon Run soon. (next week) ((um, does your nickname come from Star Wars - R2D2?))

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Pschan_88: Harry will always be the best seeker! I haven't forgotten for a single second that HE is the main character!

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PepsiAngel: you don't have to be patient too long…

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georgia: Snape did have a reason to be especially mean – he was having problems, as I mentioned in the last chapter. Serious problems. Um, what were you talking about? Harry on a rug then on a broom? WHERE, if I may ask? The only time he flew on a rug was in chapter 19. If you meant chapter 24, then he was riding a broomstick to save Sunny – no carpet!

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IloveLinkinPark222: wow, do you really read all my answers? I thought they were pretty boring…

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dudette: the words 'realized', 'cilized' are definitely written with 'z' in American English, but with 's' in British English – and I usually write British English.

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frizzylizzy: 10 times a day???

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Reia Silivin: yes, it really is the highest compliment one could write to me. I know I wrote Anuck-Su-Namun's name wrong, but I needed her to have the mid-name 'sun', so I could call her Sunny.

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Atalanta Zora: thanks for refraining from writing "aaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhh" – that single word your wrote was enough for me to know that you still like the story :-)

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Zenon Lee: why Neville? Because I wanted him to. That's why. (silly answer, I know, sorry.)

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apple-pie: what is your nationality or mother tongue??? Cause you were referring to Snape as "Piton", which is strange, because I thought that he was only called Piton in the Hungarian translation. (Which I think is really good – Snape sounds like snake and piton – python in English – is a snake).

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Mikey: yes, the Run is an international race (you'll be surprised HOW international it is) People only ride brooms in the Run, no carpets. About your suggestion: thank you very much, but my computer is quite old and slow, and there's not much free space left, so it wouldn't be proper to start playing the movie on it. (Anyway, I sit way too much before the computer screen without watching movies on it, that's why I'm getting short-sighted. Soon I'll need glasses – I'll buy some Harry-ish glasses, lol!)

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Pudadingding: have I not mentioned you? Sorry… that might have been because you were surely asking questions that many others also asked and I didn't want to reply to same to ten people. About the baby's name: you will be disappointed. (Though it won't be James).

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Kacella: yes, we do celebrate St. Nicholas in Hungary – giving each other lots of sweets. (I received lots of boxes of Bertie Bott's Every Flavour Beans and finally managed to find carrot- tomato- and radish-flavoured ones!) Sorry, Draco won't get together with Sunny… I have other plans for that girl.

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Iris McCartney: Daniel Radcliffe is 12 now, and I share your opinion - he is totally adorable!

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Lilith Ceridwen: Spanish, are you? I think your English is really good – so don't worry, start writing your fic in English! No, I never said that Draco was TOTALLY evil – but he is evil a bit. You'll see him at the end of the fic again. Yes, I have read the Draco series and found it amazing! My favourite! "Lol" means "lots of laugh".

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Maria: I haven't seen the film yet – next Thursday! (Less than a week, yippieee!!!!) I know that Harry has blue eyes in the film, but I guess I'll be able to put up with it… Daniel is still cute.

Arrghhh, this was long again! Sorry… Have fun!

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Chapter 26

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A hopeless match

*Good that I have learnt how to disapparate.* Harry thought, gazing out the window. The lush verdant foliage of the trees of India, the spicy smell of the humid air and the hundred different colours of birds flying by, made him feel full of energy and somehow free, too.

He knew that his journey to India was nothing else but a desperate escape from Egypt – from a girl who happened to love him, and from the terrible knowledge that his amnesia was incurable.

He let out a sigh, examining the huge, colourful (mainly pink and yellow) elephants that were standing in the parking place. (Some Indian wizards, who had agoraphobia, preferred travelling on elephants to carpet-rides or broomstick-flights.)

Harry was aware, though, that he could never really escape his fate, never could get contended with his situation.

He wanted to get his memories back. He was thirsting after them as much as he needed water in the middle of the Sahara. Back then, help came in the person of Ali Ababwa… but his current need couldn't be satisfied, and the longing in his heart started to tore him apart, from inside out…

Other people would even have been glad not to recall anything – they might have felt grateful for the chance of starting a new life without having to face the problems of the previous one… but not Harry.

He was never like _other people_.

He was special… and didn't even know it.

During his stay in Egypt, sometimes he was awoken by a sudden pain hurting his forehead. He would get up, go to a mirror and examine himself – only to see nothing wrong.

Absolutely nothing.

He never thought to talk about it to Mr. Abysmal, his daughter or Gilderoy. They couldn't understand him, neither could they help him, he kept telling himself.

He shook his head, resigned. He was about to go mad.

He escaped, all right. He had amnesia, okay. His forehead hurt once in a while, never mind. He could handle it, couldn't he? He was a wizard, after all…

But for the time being he was a would-be competitor of the Moon Run. Training was about to start the following day.

He had this day free, before getting sucked into this whole race-craze. Harry decided to make use of the day as much as possible.

"Come, Abu!" he beckoned to the monkey that eagerly jumped on his shoulder. "We are going sightseeing."

They left the house of Ravin, mingling with the crowd. 

Witches dressed in saris hurried past Harry, some of them carrying pitchers on their heads.

*How can they balance those?* Harry wondered. He didn't see any of the witches waving wands so he just couldn't imagine how those women managed to keep the pitchers on their heads. Was there a special charm for that?

Every now and then cows crossed the streets, people politely giving way to them. *Why are cows holy animals, when they don't even have magical powers?* Harry thought, then came to a halt. "_Beautiful Bill_…" he muttered.

Abu gave him a questioning stare.

"Ah, nothing, Abu." the boy sighed. "I just thought I remembered something."

They continued their walk through the dirty, narrow streets, sometimes stopping to look at some fakirs. 

Shortly before sunset Harry was standing in front of a serpent-charmer, deeply immersed in his thoughts about the upcoming race (which he hoped would be a diversion from his dark thoughts on amnesia), when the three-headed orange snake – a runespoor-, writhing in the casket, suddenly stopped its dance, its left head letting out a sigh. "Oh, man, I've had enough." ((A/N: for reference on runespoor see Magical Beasts and where to find them))

"Excuse me?" Harry's eyes widened.

"I said I'm fed up." the snake's left head replied. "Day in, day out having to play the clown to those fools who happen to walk by."

"Are you not contented with your job?" the boy asked.

"Contented??? Are you kidding? Have you ever tried putting on a daylong show every day, and get nothing but a dead rat for it at the end of the day? Have you?"

Harry shook his head.

"Oh, come on, stop whining!" the right head of the serpent cut in.

"I'm not whining." the left head turned up its nose.

"Oh, yes, you are! Look at the bright side of life!"

"What bright side?"

"Well, take a leaf out of Ranath's book!" the right head looked at the middle one, that was staring into the distance, a dreamy expression on its face. "Hey, Ranath!"

"Huh?" the middle head looked up.

"I was telling Rabind that life wasn't that terrible at all."

"Oooh…" Ranath's head nodded. "Life is wonderful… look at those beautiful butterflies over there…"

"Butterflies, eh?" Rabind, the left head snorted at spat on the ground.

Tagore, the right head turned to Harry. "Sorry about Rabind's behaviour, sir. Please don't get mad at us, sir."

"Oh, never." Harry tried to smile, not really knowing what to tell a snake whose heads kept arguing.

"You are THE ONE." he heard another voice.

"Huh?" he looked up from the runespoor, looking for the source of that voice. It was the serpent-charmer, a small and extremely old man with a thin beard and white turban. "Pardon me?"

"YOU ARE THE ONE." the little man answered with a dreamy face, his expression mirroring that of Ranath. Harry had no doubt that the guy had consumed a great deal of opium, since his eyes were glassy and distant – as though he had been talking to someone else, miles away.

Harry decided to walk away, but the small man put a hand on his shoulder, repeating: "YOU ARE THE ONE."

"Who?" Harry frowned. The old guy was surely not only under the effect of opium, but crazy as well.

"You are Parselmouth." came the answer.

"Of course he is, dude!" Rabind interjected. "How in hell could he talk with us if he weren't?"

"I know." Harry shrugged. "And?"

The old man's glassy eyes found Harry's, his stare deeply diving into that of the boy. "The Dark Lord… he is also Parselmouth."

Tagore nodded eagerly and Ranath heaved a deep sigh: "Ah, the Dark Lord… nice man he is. Those pretty red eyes…"

"The Dark Lord?" Harry raised an eyebrow. He remembered Sunny telling him about the Dark Lord – she usually just called him You-Know-Who.

"Yes… the Dark Lord." the old Indian whispered in a very mysterious tone. "Heed my words, son… he can be defeated."

"Oh, cool." Harry crossed his arms, starting to find the serpent-charmer quite amusing.

"Only one thing can defeat him…" the old guy continued, not noticing the boy's nonchalant answer, "…true love... only true love can conquer the greatest evil."

"Love?" Harry smirked. The old man was really out of his mind.

"Load of dung." Rabind commented. "Mind you, this old codger is off his rocker."

"Yes, son, love." the elderly wizard nodded. "But not the love of a friend, not even the love of a parent… these can only delay his destruction."

"Oh, sure. Clear as crystal." Harry rolled his eyes. 

The serpent-charmer didn't stop.

"No brotherly or parental love can bring about his undoing, only the true love of a lover… but beware… _beware the sunrise at Stonehenge_!" the old guy suddenly released Harry's shoulder, sitting back down to his runespoor, lifting his flute to his lips, starting to play music, as though nothing had happened.

"Stonehenge, huh?" Rabind snorted. "Codswallop."

"Oh, come off, he isn't as stupid as he looks." the right head started to wriggle to the rythm of the music, and the middle one followed suit. The arguing left one had no other choice than to do the same. 

Casting a last glance at the dancing Rabind, Ranath and Tagore, Harry left with Abu.

* * * * *

Meanwhile, Hogwarts was in a fever of Quidditch again.

The day of the Gryffindor-Slytherin match had finally come. 

Back on 3rd November, Gryffindor beat Hufflepuff under the leadership of Harry Potter. In March Hufflepuff was vanquished by Ravenclaw and by Slytherin.

At the beginning of April there was a Ravenclaw-Slytherin match, and Ravenclaw was beaten 180-160. Slytherin's new seeker was noticeably better than Malfoy.

At the end of April Gryffindor was beaten by Ravenclaw, and now badly needed to win the match against Slytherin – but there was no chance for it – or at least almost none. Everyone agreed that there had to be a miracle to win – for example the Snitch flying directly into Neville's hand. And that was quite unlikely.

Neville was extremely nervous that morning – so were all members of the Gryffindor Quidditch team. Ron couldn't sleep the whole night, and was tired beyond imagination. Hermione talked him into drinking a big mug of coffee, then gave him a good-luck-kiss on the cheek and left for the grandstand, where Parvati, Lavender and Ginny had already been waiting for her. They looked much more nervous than she was.

Parvati was crumpling a handkerchief, and Lavender kept pulling out her pocket-mirror to check her make-up every three minutes – that was the sign of nervousness by her.

Professor McGonagall was pacing among the rows of seats, furrowing her brow, trying to avoid Professor Snape's victorious glances from the other side of the Quidditch pitch.

"Look at that bastard!" Lavender hissed. "Look at that grin on his face!"

"Oh, if only I could wipe that smirk off his ugly face!" Ginny fumed.

"You just stay put, and don't wipe anything in your condition, will you?" Hermione interrupted, seating herself next to Ginny. Crookshanks and Wendelin, Ron's pet niffler, were sitting on Hermione's lap. "I couldn't leave them in the dorm. They are also excited about the match." she explained.

"There's not much to be excited about." Pansy said with a wicked grin. "Our team will wipe yours from the pitch, Granger!"

Hermione dropped the two pets and stood up. "Are you that sure, Pansy?"

"Of course I am. Arnold Pitbull is the best seeker Slytherin has had in the last three decades. He is not only lean and light, but very skilled, and… a real predator."

"Predator? You refer to those sex orgies you two had in Moaning Myrtle's toilet?" Hermione wrinkled her nose.

For a second Pansy went as white as a sheet, then turned crimson. "How dare you assert such… such ridiculous things?" she howled, her pretty face contorting into the face of a banshee.

"Take it easy, Pansy." Hermione sneered. "People are watching us."

Pansy looked around to see many curious glances directed at her.

"I might have had sex orgies with Arnold…" she whispered, "but I wasn't that stupid to forget to use protection." she gave Ginny a supercilious look, and turned to leave, but after two steps she turned back to say: "Neville's gonna suck. He's a blunderer. I bet he won't stay on the broom for more than two minutes."

"Who won' do what?" a raucous voice came from behind.

Pansy looked up to see a frowning Hagrid.

"No one…" she gave him a feint smile and hurried away.

"Mind if I sit down, girls?" the Care of Magical Creatures teacher dropped himself down next to Hermione.

"Good to see you, Hagrid. How are the Martians doing?"

"Very well, thanks." the giant answered. "Are the gossips true? Is Neville Longbottom playin' seeker?"

"Afraid so." Parvati sighed.

Soon all spectators seated themselves on the grandstands, banners with the lion of Gryffindor and the serpent of Slytherin floating in the air.

"Shame that Harry isn' here." Hagrid sighed. "Oh, how is Wendelin doin'? May I hold her?"

"Sure." Hermione handed him the niffler.

The two teams walked out to the pitch – Neville holding Harry's _Firebolt_.

Ron turned to his team-members. "Guys… and girls,' he bent his head in Natalie McDonald's direction, "we have to pull our sock up if we are to win today. I know how difficult it is without our ace seeker, but we can manage it… right, Neville?"

Neville, hearing his name, shuddered, feeling his legs go weak. In the first second he was trembling, in the next he was off.

"Hey, Neville!" Ron shouted after him. "Where are you going?"

Longbottom hurried off the pitch, amidst the howling laughter of the Slytherins. 

"Does he have to pee?" Snape smirked at McGonagall, who was covering her red face with her hands.

"I'll get him!" Ron told his team-members, and ran after the 'seeker'.

The spectators were on the rack for about five minutes, when the Gryffindor captain returned – alone.

'I tried' – Hermione read from his mouth. Suddenly Ginny leapt up and left the crowd.

"Where are you…?" Hermione and Hagrid yelled, but she didn't care.

She hurried to the changing rooms, ripped open the door and entered. There was Neville, sobbing on a bench.

"Hey, what are you doing here, you milksop, while everyone out there is waiting for you?"

The boy looked up, a shocked expression on his face. He had never heard Ginny talk like that before.

"I'm… I'm not going anywhere…" he whispered.

"No?" the girl raised an eyebrow. "Don't make me turn you into a flobberworm right here and now!" she pointed her wand at him.

"But… but Ginny… you know how clumsy I am…"

"You are the only clumsy guy who can perform the Whittby-corkscrew." she replied. "And Gryffindor needs you – clumsy or not. Anyway, I'm convinced that this clumsiness is a mental problem of yours. If you keep telling yourself that you can't do it, then you really won't be able to. For a change, tell yourself that you are an okay seeker, and that you don't suck. Understood?"

Neville nodded awkwardly.

"Then get to work!" she motioned him with her wand.

"Aye, aye, captain." the boy saluted and grabbed the _Firebolt_.

"Be worthy of that broom." Ginny smiled. "Harry would be proud to see you ride it."

* * * * *

When they saw Neville return with Ginny, some of the Slytherins started to point at him, chortling, while others were disappointed that he came back at all.

Snape seemed rather pleased – Longbottom's return (and expected failure during the match) meant that he'd have plenty of opportunity to bug the boy later on. This was the first time since November that Snape felt sorry that Harry wasn't there. He'd have enjoyed the sour look on Potter's face at the end of the Quidditch Final.

Soon Madame Hooch got on her broomstick and blew into her whistle.

The fourteen players soared up into the air.

"Aaaaaand Zambini's got the Quaffle!" came Justin Finch-Fletchley's voice over the magic microphone. "Dennis Creevey gets it, passes to Colin, who scores… oh no, Baddock's intercepted it… look out for that bludger! Aw, poor Thomas, that must have hurt!"

Dean was indeed massaging his nape where the bludger had hit him.

"Wow, what a brilliant saving! Good job, Seamus! And Monty Everest is flying for the Quaffle… got it, and… damn, 10 to 0 for Slytherin!"

Professor Snape gave McGonagall a huge smile, showing all his 32 yellow teeth.

"McDonald is going for the Quaffle, and… hey, that was deliberate! EVEREST, YOU BASTARD!…"

Madame Hooch gave a penalty shot to Gryffindor.

"C'mon, Colin…" Justin yelled. "OH SHIT, PRITCHARD SAVES IT!"

The Slytherin supporters burst out cheering, while disappointed moans could be heard from the Gryffindors.

"Gryffindor back in possession - Natalie passes to Colin, Colin scores!!! GRYFFINDOR EQUALISES! 10-10!"

Many of the Gryffindors stood up, applauding. 

Now it was Minerva's turn to flash Snape a 32-teeth smile.

The applause hadn't even subsided when a bludger started to pick on Neville.

He saw the bludger speeding towards him and started racing up twenty metres, then dived with an abrupt move, almost bumping into the ground. As he realised that he was still in one piece, and turned around to see that the bludger had given up on chasing him, he let out a joyous yelp, and flew headlong into one of the goal posts, not hearing Justin's voice:

"WATCH OUT FOR THAT…" _BANG. _"Ouch, get Madame Pomfrey!" he shouted into the mike.

"No… need…" Neville feebly waved his left hand, trying to clutch the handle with his right one. He was still threatening to fall off.

"And Longbottom is ready to continue the fight after a terrible collision with the post. Wow, that guy has a hard nut! …McDonald has the Quaffle, then Zambini gets is… arggggh, 20-10 to Slytherin!"

"Come on, Neville, catch the Snitch…" Hermione whispered.

"The Quaffle is again by Baddock… scores, and Weasley pulls off a spectacular save! Now Creevey… passes to Creevey… heads for the goal posts… damn, Zambini intercepts… 30-10 to Slytherin!"

Another disappointed murmur sounded from the Gryffindor stand.

"Nothing is lost yet, come on, guys!" Finch-Fletchley yelled.

McGonagall was about to tell him off for being partial, but as Slytherin's two beaters - Crabbe and Goyle - clashed in the next second with a loud thump, she totally forgot her intentions of reprimanding, and inspected the gorilla-like Slytherins with barely-hidden malice. Goyle swore like blazes, rubbing his forehead, while Crabbe fondled his broken, bleeding nose.

"Headmistress! Shouldn't we take some points for each swear?" Justin suggested.

Minerva strongly agreed with the boy, but the 700 fouls of Quidditch unfortunately didn't include swears – not to mention that Justin's choice of language wasn't a thing better.

While Crabbe and Goyle collected themselves, Baddock threw another goal. 40-10 to Slytherin.

The Snitch still wasn't within eyeshot, though both seekers – Arnold Pitbull and Neville – were eagerly goggling the distance to notice the sun flash on the little golden ball.

"Everest's intercepted the Quaffle, passes to Baddock… Dennis was quicker, good move, kid! Dennis passes to Colin, Colin takes aim… oh, my, Zambini gets it… 50-10 to Slytherin." Justin hissed.

Snape sent McGonagall a wide grin, applauding for Blaise Zambini's score.

At that moment… Pitbull set into motion, diving deeply.

*The Snitch!* Neville thought, and followed him. Arnold Pitbull continued his dive, then turned his broom upwards in the last second before hitting the ground.

Neville seemed to be about to bore into the grass, but surprisingly managed to stop the _Firebolt _three or four feet above the ground.

"THAT WAS THE WRONSKY FEINT!" Justin informed the spectators. "Unbelievable that Longbottom didn't hit the ground! What a presence of mind! LOOK! Neville's speeding upwards… is he gone crazy? What is this lad doing? He's gonna bump into Pitbull… but no … woohoo… he bends the Firebolt, a little turn to the left, a spin… Pitbull's following Longbottom, imitates his whirls, and… WHEW! Get Madame Pomfrey… AND GET ARNOLD OFF THAT PINE! What we've just seen was the famous Whittby-corkscrew… only one man is known to be able to… WHOA! NEVILLE'S GOT THE SNITCH! I haven't even noticed it in the great excitement!" Justin howled at the top of his lungs. "GRYFFINDOR WINS: 160-50! GRYFFINDOR'S GOT THE CUP!"

All the Gryffindors, along with the Hufflepuffs and Ravenclaws jumped up cheering, throwing their pointed hats into the air, shouting Neville's name.

The boy slowly descended onto the grass of the pitch, still clutching the small, winged Snitch in his right hand. He was too touched to speak or to move, so just let his team-members lift him and carry him on their shoulders.

As his glance fell on Snape's sour face, his lips tucked into a smirk, telling '_I've shown you, Snapey… now who do you call a loser?'_

While the Gryffindors were jumping for joy, the Slytherins left the stands, unusually silent.

Pansy was crying (either because of the lost match, or because of her boyfriend who was just being dragged down from the pine with a broken jaw and three front teeth missing.)

Millicent was also sullen, but as an owl flew to her, delivering a message, her ugly face lit up like a sun at the zenith. She climbed back onto the stand, letting her house-members go back into the castle, and started to read. The smile on her face grew wider and wider by the minute, her pudgy hand fingering a crystal that was hanging from her neck – a crystal that she had had since Christmas.


	27. The Hogwarts parchment book

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A/N: I'm here again, people, with the chapter you have been awaiting so much! Thanks for all the reviews!

May I ask you to put your country into the reviews? I'd like to know where you are from. It's so interesting to see that I have reviewers not only from the USA but from Chile, India, Germany… so please, let me know where you come from, okay?

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Rodi: The "true love shit" will be explained soon.

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Lilith Ceridwen: you don't need to understand it – yet.

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K-K: "istenhozzad" was okay, but I don't know what you wanted to say by "igenis". Anyway, thanks for trying to write me something in Hungarian! I was really touched.

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italian_chick54: the letter had nothing to do with Harry, it was written to Millicent, though. No, no twins – it would be too Star Wars-ish! I haven't seen the movie yet – I'll see it on Thursday! (counting back… 71 hours, 20 minutes…)

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Squalidaman: you are right, I mixed up the two words. (But then I wanted to look for acrophobia in my Longman dictionary, and couldn't find it!!!)

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Nikkianna: I might write another fic, but only during the summer, after I have read book five, because book five might influence and inspire me a bit.

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Julietta: no, it wasn't H and G's child in Neville's dream. Voldemort doesn't need to conjure up a body – he already has one since book 4! He wants to be immortal! About Harry missing the chance to raise his parents… well, you'll understand that one soon. Merry Christmas to you, too! (I loved you P.S!)

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Ariana Black: you are a pessimist! Millicent's smile doesn't mean anything bad this time, so don't worry!

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NFGrl: I'm glad that you liked that I didn't only write about sex and romance. Truth be told I feel sick of too much fluff.

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Alexander Pheonix: your guess was right about the crystal :-) (May I ask what TTFN means? I'm still learning these abbreviations.)

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Laurelye Tigre: I'm glad that you think I managed to grasp the true Harry Potter feeling!!!

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dudette: IMHO means In My Humble Opinion.

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Lucretia: there won't be much about Sirius and Lupin looking for Harry – I just wanted you to know that people WERE looking for him, because he NEEDED to be found, ASAP. Glad that you liked Neville!

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elvin: I actually KNOW that the famous Indian poet was RABINDRANATH TAGORE, but the snake had THREE HEADS, so I needed to divide the first name into two parts, so that each head could get a name. It wasn't my ignorance, only a little play with the words – I hope you don't mind, I didn't want to hurt anyone's feelings.

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princesswitch: yes, yes, yes, let's buy Snapey some toothpaste!!! Lol!

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D2: you'll meet both Dudley and Draco again. (Glad that you realised who Wendelin was!)

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Nefertiti: oh, sorry forgot to look at your website! What is the URL again? 

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IloveLinkinPark222: I'm not angry at all, and I won't do the same to your fic, I promise! :-)

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thorn: how many chapters? Not too many - with this chapter you have read three-fourth of the story.

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mandi: for the answer to your first question see _thorn_ (right above you). For your other question: in two chapters.

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WildStar and Andromeda: ((I still like your name, lol)) I don't think I'm the cleverest writer here – I'm just older than most of the fanfic writers. (I guess the majority of the writers are between 12 and 17, am I right? Well, I'm 20 with a little bit more experience…)

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jennaration: a/n is "author's note".

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Shaun Wilson: thanks for keeping my secret!!!

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jumponit2008: the name of the fifth book is "Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix". (That's why you could see so many stories on ffnet with this title.)

Okay, on to the long-awaited chapter! 

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Chapter 27

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The Hogwarts parchment book

More than six weeks had passed since the Gryffindor-Slytherin match, but people were still taken with Neville's performance. The previously ignored boy had become the centre of attention – to Professor Snape's disgust.

Parvati, Lavender and several girls from Gryffindor, Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff were courting his favour.

Neville, however, remained modest – his success didn't go to his head. Of course he was pleased by the compliments he was constantly being given, but it never occurred to him to brag about his wonderful accomplishment of the Whittby Corkscrew. He was eternally grateful to Ginny for browbeating him into playing, though.

Snape, who had only despised him before, now hated him with all his heart – almost as much as he hated Harry. Lacking the opportunity to bully Potter, he gave all his power into making Neville's life miserable.

This way it was Neville of all students who suffered the most during the Potions exam, but somehow he managed to pass – even he didn't understand, how, since Snape did everything to fail him.

It was exactly during that ominous exam that a third-year was sent to notify Ron that his sister had gone into labour.

Ron and Hermione threw their potions together and headed for the hospital wing – Ron surprised that Hermione cared that little for her exam. That was not like Hermione… But after all, it was about their nephew or niece… THEIR nephew or niece… Hermione had always considered herself as the auntie of Ginny's baby, because Ginny and Harry were both like siblings to her.

After leaving the dungeon, Ron and his girlfriend hurried upstairs and burst into the infirmary, panting heavily.

"Ginny!" Ron yelled and ran to his sister, who was sitting on a bed, sweat forming in beads on her forehead.

"How are you doing?" Hermione asked with a worried voice.

"Fine… up till now." Ginny smiled weakly. "But I am only at the beginning… Madame Pomfrey promised to cast a catalysing charm on me, so it will go faster."

"We'll stay with you." Ron squeezed her hand.

"I don't think so." Poppy came in, a nervous expression on her face. "Ms. Granger may stay, but you, young man, had better leave. This is woman's business."

"But Madame Pomfrey…" Ron pleaded. "It's my nephew…"

"Niece!" Ginny yelped, as a contraction hit her. She gritted her teeth, squeezed her eyes shut and waited until it was over.

"Now you can see it with your own eyes, Mr. Weasley," Pomfrey said. "And it won't get any better, just worse. Are you sure you want to stay?"

Ron nodded. "I am. Harry would also be here, if he could. I'm convinced of that."

Ginny gave her brother a grateful smile – both for staying with her, and for mentioning that Harry would be glad to witness the birth of his child.

Her heart ached that her love couldn't be with her at these hard moments, but she tried to keep her mind off Harry, only concentrating on the little being within her.

Since she felt the first kick of her child, she had had a special relationship with the baby – talking to it, caressing it, feeling, and almost understanding its messages.

The baby was a very vivid little one, always making flips and difficult gymnastic exercises in Ginny's womb, not letting her have a minute of peace. Dean once remarked that the youngest Potter would be a great football player. Ron, on the other hand, insisted that his nephew would be a Gryffindor Quidditch captain, like his father and two of his uncles. 

Hermione hoped that the child would be headboy/girl, or a prefect. Some of the Slytherins, though, expressed their opinion that the little bastard of Potter's would surely be a squib. (It was originally Draco's idea, but it lived on after his departure.)

Ginny didn't listen to any of them: neither cared for the mocking remarks, nor for the guesses about the baby's future. For her, the child meant only one thing: the greatest miracle of her life. So, after nine months of pregnancy she was more than eager to meet the small being created by her and Harry.

* * * * *

"Are you sure that the smell of the pulverised cockroach-weed will drive the bat-mosquitos away from the purple room?" headmistress McGonagall turned to Professor Sprout, as they entered a very untidy room on the ground-floor. Its walls had once been painted purple, but the plasterwork was already peeling. Several cobwebs were hanging in the corners and the air was stale. It seemed to have been cleaned about a year before, or even earlier. Everything in the room was covered with dust, with the exception of a huge, centuries-old parchment book, that stood open on a small dais, between two bottles of ink. One of the bottles contained blue ink, the other pink.

Professor Sprout sneezed. "I'm allergic to dust." she blew her nose. "Where should I put this bowl of cockroach-weed?"

"There, into the corner." Minerva replied, trampling on a bat-mosquito. "These little beasts keep screeching all night, and I can't sleep at all. You know, my room is right above this one."

Sprout nodded, placing the cockroach-weed into the corner, sneezing again. "I've got to go and check on the gillyweed plantations in the aquarium. It was a good idea from Dumbledore to grow some salt-water plants on land."

"You can't imagine how much it took from the school-budget." McGonagall answered, frowning. "I wanted to persuade Albus to spend that amount on transfiguration books, Madame Pomfrey wanted to use it for buying new medical equipment, and Madame Hooch insisted on spending it on new broomsticks. However, you won."

Sprout grinned and sneezed. At that moment the quill that had been peacefully lying on the opened parchment book, set into motion. It jumped into the bottle of pink ink, and started skating on the paper.

McGonagall and Sprout stepped to the book to see the following words written on it:

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Lily Potter, born 20th June 1998, parents: Harry James Potter and Virginia Weasley

Professor McGonagall's lips tucked into a smile. "A witch is born."

Sprout nodded. "She was due any day now. But… Minerva, how could the magic quill write Lily _Potter_? She is born a Weasley, since those kids never got married!"

"Good question." Minerva agreed. "But the magic quill is never wrong. It has to mean that Harry is going to come back and marry Ginny. This is good news." she again glanced at the parchment book, which had the function of detecting the birth of magic children throughout Great Britain for about a millennium. Whenever a child with magical powers was born, the quill wrote his or her name down in the large book. For several decades it had been Professor McGonagall's task to check the book every year, and send owls to the kids who were turning eleven. "A new witch is born." she repeated.

"I barely can wait to see the baby! I love babies!" the Herbology teacher declared, her eyes shining.

"Be patient. I don't think that Poppy will let us in right now."

Sprout nodded, wiping her palms clean on her robes. "I'll go and wash my hands. They aren't too hygienic."

* * * * *

An hour later they were allowed to enter the infirmary, along with Professor Flitwick.

Ron and Hermione were still sitting beside the sleeping Ginny, who was extremely pale. It had been a hard labour. She was too young and delicate for such a torture. Though barely, she survived, and according to Madame Pomfrey, she'd be okay soon. Ron and Hermione were beside her all along, giving support and reassurance of their love. It was over now, and they had a wonderful little niece.

As the teachers entered the ward, Hermione stood up with a radiant, but pretty worn face.

"Professor McGonagall," she whispered, beckoning the teachers to a cradle. "Look! Isn't she perfect?"

In the cradle there was a beautiful little girl sleeping, her pale skin in contrast with her thick, red hair.

Professor Sprout let out a dreamy sigh, and even Minerva allowed herself a smile.

Flitwick was too small to be able to peer into the cradle, so he levitated himself up. "Oh, the little angel…" he clasped his hands in delight.

"MY niece!" Ron straightened himself proudly.

"If my memory serves me well, you have always been referring to her as your _nephew_." Hermione reminded him.

The door opened to admit Professor Snape.

Ron and Hermione exchanged terrified looks. Ron would have sworn that the Potion teacher came to curse the baby.

But Snape only stepped to the cradle, making a wry face. "She doesn't look a thing like Potter." he declared. "Are you sure that she's Potter's?"

Hermione gave Snape a withering glance, and kicked Ron in the ankle to stop him before he could break Snape's nose.

"But Severus…" Flitwick cut in, "We all know that Harry is the father."

Snape sleeked his grimy hair and turned to leave the infirmary, but directly bumped into Trelawney at the door.

"Ah, Sybill!" Sprout waved. "You are barely seen among us. Come closer and have a look at this little fairy!"

Trelawney came closer, as if she had been floating two centimetres above the floor. She peered into the cradle, and whispered: "_So it has come true. I told it to Potter_." her voice was empty, free of emotions, and her eyes looked distant while they were fixed on the baby.

"What did you tell him? That he'd become a father?" McGonagall crossed her arms. It was common knowledge that she had never liked the Divination professor, and considered Trelawney's subject as the most imprecise branch of magic.

Sybill didn't turn to face the headmistress. "_I told him that the constellations indicated the impending birth of a child, and the inevitable darkness that ensues with it_."

"Enough is enough!" Ron snapped. "In third and fourth year you kept predicting Harry's death! In fifth year you foretold that I'd impregnate Hermione in sixth year! Then you predicted that Seamus would go gay and fall for Neville, then you swore that Parvati would conspire with Hagrid's Martians and go off-planet. None of these happened! Don't you think that we'd ever believe that this innocent little child will bring darkness to Earth! That's rubbish!"

"Okay, Weasley, enough! You don't want to wake your niece, do you?" McGonagall interrupted, trying to hide how pleased she felt. At last someone told Sybill what they thought of her. "Let's go, all of you. Ginny has had a hard day. She needs to rest."

"_May she rest in peace_." Trelawney whispered, and hurried away, before Ron could throttle her.

"Did you hear that?" Ron fumed, as they left the ward.

"Take it easy, dear." Hermione replied. "I haven't believed a word of this crazy old wench since we had our first lesson with her."

The boy nodded, and they both headed for the owlery to send an owl to the Weasley-parents, to let them know that they had become grandparents.

* * * * *

Next day half the school visited the youngest witch – to Madame Pomfrey's greatest disapproval. She was constantly complaining about McGonagall letting all the students have a glance at the baby. On the other hand, Pomfrey knew that there was no power on Earth that could have kept the Hogwarts students from seeing the child – not even the prohibition of the headmistress.

All Gryffindors were totally enraptured by the little girl, but the Slytherins didn't miss any opportunity to assert that they didn't find any resemblance between Potter and the baby.

Hagrid was the last to come to visit, but he stayed the longest. He couldn't take his eyes off the child, and even beseeched Ginny to let him hold Lily a bit.

His black eyes filled with tears when the baby woke up and flashed him with an emerald-eyed stare. "She has Harry's eyes!" he sniffed and blew his nose. "Oh, if only Harry could see his daughter… he'd be so proud!"

At eight o'clock Madame Pomfrey needed to threaten Hagrid with the prospect of a jelly-leg-jinx, in order to make him leave.

"I'll be back tomorrow ter see sweet little Lily." he said. "By the way… I like that name, Ginny."

"Me too." the girl smiled, taking her baby from the giant.

Only Ron and Hermione stayed with the mother and child.

"You are beaming, sis." the boy remarked.

"I'm happy, Ron." Ginny answered, holding the little girl. "If only Harry could share my joy!"

"He'll come back for you." Hermione said with an encouraging smile.

"Yes… I believe that he will." the young mother nodded, then her solemn expression changed into that of a little imp. "Ronnie, I've just realised… _I've won the bet."_

"What?" Ron blinked in surprise.

"I've won… so you have to give me Pigwidgeon, and I can now tell Hermione about your little accident in the toilet…"

"Oh, no…" Ron groaned.

"Oh, yeees…" Ginny sneered. "You know what? I'll be merciful…"

Ron's face lit up.

"…you can keep Pigwidgeon. I'll only tell your story."

"Could it be the other way around?" Ron pleaded.

Ginny smirked. "No. Herm, please, put her back into her cradle."

Hermione took Lily, placed her into the cradle, and sat back on Ginny's bed. "I'm all ears."

"Well… it happened when Ron was six years old…" Ginny began. Ron rushed to the window to inspect something in the park. "…when George got a racoon for Christmas. He called it Joe. Joe was still a cub, and very playful. He was constantly ruining everything in the house. One day when Joe accidentally chewed Ron's Chudley Cannons jumper, Ron got so pissed off that he 'accidentally' flushed Joe down the toilet. He didn't know that the animal didn't drown, and the next time he sat on the toilet seat, the racoon jumped out of the U-bend, and bit his butt." she giggled at the memory. Ron was still turning his back on them, hiding his ruby red complexion. "You have never heard such a squealing, Herm! He ran out of the toilet, Joe hanging from his rear, howling '_geroff me!_' Wow, that was a sight… he couldn't sit down for a whole week."

"So that is the origin of that scar…" Hermione mused.

"_Scar_?" Ginny raised an eyebrow.

The other girl blushed, realising that she'd been thinking aloud.

"Scar?" Ginny repeated. "YOU have SEEN that scar?"

Now Ron turned around, his countenance mirroring that of Hermione.

Ginny saw their complexion, and understanding dawned on her, making her burst out with laughter. "Oh, my… don't… don't do this to me…" she chortled. "It still hurts to laugh…"

By then Ron and Hermione had also doubled up with laughter.

"Hermione… I would never have thought…" Ginny chuckled.

"We could tell you the same." her friend shrugged. "There's only one little difference… we were more careful than you and Harry."

Ginny heaved a deep sigh. "Yeah… we weren't cautious enough… but I don't regret it. I've wanted this child since I got to know that she was growing inside me. I love her… because she is from the boy I love."

* * * * *

Dumbledore let out a sigh. He had just been informed by Professor McGonagall about the birth of Harry and Ginny's daughter.

*The beginning of the end has started.* he thought. *Voldemort will act soon. But Harry has to be found before he… Without Harry, my plan is useless or even worse... the worst. If Harry doesn't turn up in time, there will be no chance to rid the world of Voldemort… if Harry won't turn up before Voldemort…* he shook his head. *Better not think of it.* he put down the letter, and squeezed his eyes shut. *Have I made a big mistake? I've put all my eggs into one basket… if this plan fails and Voldemort realises the deception, hell will break loose and Voldemort's avenge shall be horrendous… and I will be responsible for it… But when I chose to take chances with him, I didn't expect it to come true this soon… and never considered the possibility that Harry might get lost… Without him, everything I did was a vain attempt, that may eventually result in a catastrophe…* It was a rather dark prospect, but Dumbledore knew that it was the only chance to do away with the Dark Lord. He could only hope that it would succeed and the wizarding world would be saved, even at the expense of one - or two - innocent youngsters' life… 

* * * * *

The following days the seventh-year students had the rest of their N.E.W.Ts, and surprisingly no one failed (even Crabbe and Goyle managed to pass somehow.)

Two days after the very tricky Potions exam, they had to turn each other into blast-ended skrewts in Transfiguration. In Charms the task was levitating the giant squid out of the lake, which Hermione found ridiculously easy. (Neville didn't.) 

The task in the Care of Magical Creatures exam was to find a werewolf and steal one of its fangs. (For the duration of this exam Professor McGonagall allowed the seventh-years to enter the Forbidden Forest, saying that whoever wanted to get their N.E.W.T.s had to be qualified enough to be able to cope with the Forbidden Forest's dangers.)

Ron managed to stupefy a werewolf, and rid it of its whole row of teeth, giving all his friends one fang, so that they didn't need to search for other wolves. Neville was extremely relieved by this, while Hermione tutted disapprovingly. She decided not to accept Ron's help, and looked for an own werewolf. An hour later she came out of the forest - her robes in rags – holding a huge fang, her face telling Ron 'S_ee, I could do it on my own_!'

In their Herbology exam they needed to get some dates from the Pummelling Palm, that was a third-cousin of the Whomping Willow. Neville got a black eye during the heroic fight against the Palm tree, but managed to get the required dates.

The nastiest exam was the one in Defense Against the Dark Arts. Snape made the students outwit a mountain troll – without using their wands. The ones who performed this task the most brilliantly were Crabbe and Goyle – not because they were brilliant, but because they were big and strong enough to knock the troll out with a single blow of their fists. Ron almost got stomped on by the beast, but in the last moment he pulled out his quill and tickled the troll's sole, making it double up with laughter, as though it had been affected by the Cheering Charm.

Finally their last day at Hogwarts arrived.

Hermione, Ron, Neville and the others had a nightlong party in the Gryffindor common room to celebrate and remember. 

Seven years had passed since they first set foot on the Hogwarts grounds, and those seven years seemed to be only a second to them. They had learnt so much, made lifelong friendships, fell in love, fell off their broomsticks and enjoyed competing with the other houses.

"Good ol' Hogwarts, I'm gonna miss ya." Seamus sighed, standing by the lake, sizing up the castle for the last time.

"Me too." Dean added. "Do you know what you'll begin with your life, Neville?"

"Nay." the plump boy shook his head. "And you? Still planning to play for West Ham?"

"Yup. Maybe. And you, Ron?"

"I don't know yet. Guess I'll be working at Honeydukes for a while, just like last summer. After that… well, time will tell."

"What about you, Hermione?" asked Lavender, who was going to be a secretary at the Ministry of Magic.

Hermione didn't answer, just smiled secretively.

In the evening the usual feast was held in the Great Hall. It was strange to hear McGonagall tell the end-of-the-year-speech instead of Dumbledore.

"Another year has passed. We can state without hesitation, that it was full of events – good and bad. The departure of Professor Dumbledore and the absence of Harry Potter have left their mark on the past year, but the arrival of a baby cheered us all up a bit.

This year Slytherin managed to get 277 points ((due to Snape taking 200 points from his house because of Millicent's acts)), Hufflepuff has 402, Ravenclaw 489 and Gryffindor 521 points."

Cheers could be heard from all tables, Slytherin excepted. This was the first year in the last 300 years that Slytherin got the fewes**t **points. 

"Gryffindor's victory," McGonagall continued, "had a lot to do with the fabulous performance of Neville Longbottom, whom I have the honour of delivering a message directly from the Whimbourne Wasps – they have heard about Mr. Longbottom's skills, and are expecting him into their ranks. Of course only as a reserve player, but later on… Mr. Longbottom, make us proud, make whole England proud!"

A deafening standing ovation followed, all students cheering the dumbfounded Neville, who was sitting there, mouth agape, letting his fellows pat him on the back and shake his hand, without really understanding what was happening.

"And now," Minerva carried on, "I am glad to inform you that from next year we are going to have a new Arithmancy teacher, in the person of Ms. Hermione Granger!"

The hall went silent for a moment, then everyone (with the exception of the Slytherins) started to applaud at once.

"Herm, why haven't you told me?" Ron asked with a hint of accusation in his voice.

"I was offered the job a month ago, but it wasn't sure back then. Everything depended on Professor Vector's health condition. She decided to retire last week."

"I ask two more minutes from you." McGonagall silenced them. "As all of you know, on the seventh of July the famous race, the Moon Run will be held in Calcutta. The Ministry of Magic offered two free tickets for the school, to be given to the headboy or girl. I hope you all know what a great honour this is. I have deliberately kept this a secret until the end of the school year, this way seeing to it, that no student would study only for the tickets – you study for yourselves, you know…

And now, to the name of the headboy or girl…" Minerva cleared her throat. "I must tell we had a great difficulty deciding who should be the one, since we have three candidates: Mr. James Onedin, Ms. Laura Ingalls and Ms. Hermione Granger. They all have the highest marks, so all we can do is draw. I'm going to put their names into this bowl and ask… Professor Snape to pick one."

Snape wrinkled his crooked nose – he didn't feel like taking part in such ridiculous things, but he certainly obeyed the headmistress.

As he put his hand into the bowl, the students – especially the three candidates – gasped with excitement.

The professor didn't hurry, let them be on tenterhooks. Finally he picked out one of the crumpled parchments, and read aloud 'Hermione Granger', making a sour face. He apparently didn't feel pleased about his draw.

Hermione, and many of her friends jumped up, cheering. Ron glanced at Snape, grinning.

"We wish you a pleasant journey, Ms. Granger!" the headmistress smiled. "And now, tuck in!"

As they started to eat, Ron turned to Hermione.

"Who are you taking with you? Your mom or dad?"

The girl smirked mischievously. "Why would I take a Muggle to a wizard race, huh?"

Ron's eyes glinted. "Do you mean…"

"Of course, you fool." she gave him a kiss on the cheek. "I'm taking you."

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A/N2: you might think that calling that baby "Lily" is cheap, but I thought that after Lily "visited" Ginny and encouraged her (never give up hope!), Ginny was bound to name her daughter after Lily. 

To those who have never heard of the Hogwarts parchment book: Rowling talked about it in an interview (you can find that interview on scholastic).


	28. Back at the Burrow

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A/N: I'VE JUST COME BACK FROM THE CINEMA – I'VE SEEN THE MOVIE!!!!!!!!

IT WAS SIMPLY WONDERFUL!

There were only a couple of things that I didn't like:

Voldemort didn't look frightening enough Firenze was ridiculous Ron and Hermione shouldn't have uttered Voldemort's name James Potter seemed to be too old to be Harry's father Quirrel's death was a bit too brutal 

Apart from these the film rocks! I don't care for all the critics, I loved it – gonna watch it again on Monday!

And now to your reviews: thank you, thank you, thank you for all the compliments! Love ya all!

I guess I shocked you with Dumbledore, huh? *glad to hear, lol – it seems I'm really a sadist…*

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teacherchez: even if the baby had been a boy, he couldn't have been called Hagrid, because "Hagrid" is the groundkeeper's FAMILY name! You wrote you didn't want my story to be over. Sorry… but everything has to have an end… (I'm thinking of either a sequel or a totally different story which I'll write next summer)

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Super saya-Jin Gotan: you wrote: "_The moon race. Figures Hermione and Ron go there. They'll see Harry, he'll come back to Ginny and Lily. There."_ – Well, it won't be this easy…

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Ariana Black: your guess about Millicent was a close one :-)

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Cloudzi: I fear I didn't get it: what do you mean by telling your friends about my fic 4th and 5th hour??? Did you mean lessons at school??? (If yes, then LOL! You must have been very bored during those lessons… just like me at politology – I always start drawing Harry pics instead of listening to the teacher… naughty, naughty me!)

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Nikkianna: no, it wasn't Harry's mum that Neville saw in his dream. He saw the future, not the past.

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Hermione Gulliver: I'll read your fic as soon as I can.

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Genesis: you won't be disappointed :-)

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Rodi: corny??? No way! I HATE too corny things! Yuck! The true-love-shit won't be sappy at all – though it will awaken emotions, I'm sure, but it won't be mushy (I was even ashamed of myself when I wrote chapter 3 – the one in which H and G conceive the baby… it got way too sappy!)

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Anigurl88: "What if that werewolf was Lupin??" I'VE FAST FALLEN OFF MY CHAIR when I read this! Just imagine! Lupin!!!! With no teeth!!! LOL! No, it wasn't him. *giggling madly*

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VeRyWiLdWiTcH: ((Um, isn't it a bit tiresome to write your name with always having to change captial and non-capital letters???)) You were worried that Lily might never meet her daddy. Oh my!!! Do I seem so cruel??? Do I???

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princesswitch: your guess was right :-)

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RonWeasley'sGirlfriend: thanks, I also thought that last chapter was my best – so far (but my fave chapter is the final chapter.)

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pschan_88: you asked why Ginny wasn't going to the run. First of all: the Ministry gave the school only two tickets, and Herm wanted to take Ron. Number two: Ginny wants to be with her daughter now. Number three: *um, changed my mind, I'm not telling this yet…*

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Amen: some complications… sure! You can count on that!

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dudette: yeah, I used Laura Ingalls Wilder's name! (without Wilder.) Btw, I loved Almanzo (Laura's hubby) – so hot!

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Isis: I haven't read the Little house books, but I've seen every episode of the series (some episodes more than once…)

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Zenon Lee: Singapore? Oh my, that's far away!!! Is it very hot there? I think it's stupid to watch the movie without reading the book. You asked about Harry's missing NEWTs, and your guess… might be right… ;-) Did you want a boy??? Then you are the only one here, cause all my other reviewers wanted a girl. (When my mom read my fic for the first time during the summer, she was sure I'd give Harry a boy and she was quite surprised that he had a daughter).

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obi_ewan_maul_lover: you asked why Ginny wasn't at the feast. Well, maybe she was there, but had nothing interesting to say :-)

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Shaun Wilson: a sequel… maybe. But I think I'd rather write a totally different story. I'm really not sure yet – I have a very vague idea for a sequel, but the idea for the totally different fic is also vague. I'll choose, but not yet. (You can be sure of one thing, though: I WILL write another HP fic.)

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Echo2588: Korea? Cool! It must be a very exotic place! You asked whether you missed something about the Moon Run. No, you didn't. No one else (besides me and four other people) knows what the Moon Run is – you'll get to know it in the next chapter.

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LilBit: I hope you did well on your exams! I had three during this week, but the most difficult ones are yet to come.

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Anna: about Lockhart: well, certainly you'll see him again – twice, to be exact. (He is one of my favourite characters, after all!) I don't know whether he'll continue to write books… maybe he will, but he will be honest for a change *lol, can't picture an honest Lockhart!*

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Gwen Fifortry: Harry only made up his composition about Snape dying and himself dying. Of course Trelawney took it for granted (she always thought Harry'd die soon). In fact Sybill made only one right prediction in my fic – well, almost right. ((Should I write a sequel, I might kill off Snape and erect a monument to his memories, though… I'm not sure yet. I like Snapey and I hate killing off people.))

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NFGrl: Harry is in India.

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ssj5: no, only 34 (or 35) chapters, not 36. I might divide the last chapter into two parts, because it's way too long.

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Lucretia: Harry is in Calcutta. What happened to Draco??? Well, he got sacked and went home. Lupin is probably in Asia now, but NOT in Calcutta. He might have come back to Europe, I don't know. Just let him wander around the world, he isn't needed yet. Yet…

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Thorn: thanks for correcting me, it's always nice to get to know new things. Sometimes I really mix up British and American English – though I always try to stick to British English. (But I have read so many American books – at least a dozen of the Star Wars series – that I've learnt way too many American words, and I'm not always able to tell whether they are used in British English as well.) 

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D2: no, I didn't expect him to be there for the birth either *lol, did I say I didn't _expect _him???* You asked where Voldemort was. Well, he is lurking somewhere nowadays, but not for long, I promise!

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Rab: oh, what are you saying there??? Is it really more enjoyable to read fanfics than studying??? *my, I would never have thought! A big LOL!*

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Pudadinging: Remus and Sirius will also see Lily soon.

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K-K: I'm not revealing anything, sorry…

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Mental Patient: I'm NOT Rowling in disguise, I assure you. Harry meets Lily soon.

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veronik: I'm happy it was worth reading :-) of course Voldie is planning bad things…

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Jen: no, Neville wasn't dreaming about Lily.

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Julietta: Dumbledore isn't with Remus and Sirius. No, they cannot track Harry's way from Egypt, since Abysmal sun-Amun has absolutely no idea where he had gone (he doesn't even presume it was Ravin who talked Harry into going to India.)

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stargirl: Ginny and Neville??? No way, sister! (reading in computer class? I also do it at school, lol)

All right, this chapter is a link between the birth and the Moon Run – I wanted to show you a bit of Weasey family-get-together.

Enjoy!

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Chapter 28

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Back at the Burrow

The Hogwarts Express arrived at platform 9 ¾, and stopped with puffing funnel.

"We're here." Hermione sighed, her voice revealing how sad she was.

"Hey, chin up! You'll be back in September!" Ron reminded her, lifting Pigwidgeon's cage and stuffing Wendelin into his bag.

"Yeah…" she nodded, gathering Crookshanks into her arms. "But it won't be the same: I'll be teaching, not studying."

"Look at the bright side of it," the boy said, "you won't have to put up with Snape's bullying."

Hermione furrowed her brow. "Do you think he'd be better a colleague than a teacher? I'm not that optimistic."

"Then why have you taken on the job? Go and teach Muggles at Oxford!"

Ginny entered their compartment with Lily in her right arm and Hedwig's cage in her left. "Guys, time to get off!"

"Dad, Aunt Marge's train is delayed." Dudley told Vernon Dursley, standing on platform 9.

Suddenly a bunch of youngsters appeared from the wall between platform 9 and 10.

"The students from the crazy school." Vernon murmured, knitting his eyebrows. "Good that we don't have to care for Harry anymore."

Dudley nodded, fixing his stare at the secret entrance of platform 9 ¾. As though he had been waiting for someone – someone else than Aunt Marge.

He was shaken out of his reveries by a rumbling voice:

"Neville! You little imp! You're gonna play Quidditch for England!"

A plump boy with beaming face nodded and let the yelling man pulled him into a bear-like hug.

"Hey, Algie, you are throttling our little hero!" and old woman cut in. "Come here, Neville, let Granny give you a big kiss!"

"Geez, Gran…" the boy wiped his face after the enthusiastic kisses of the old witch.

Vernon heard another voice:

"Look, Arthur, they are here!"

Two red-haired people burst forward (almost knocking over the stout Mr. Dursley), to greet an also redheaded boy and a redheaded girl holding a red-haired baby.

"Ginny!" the small, plump woman yelled, gathering the girl and her baby into a warm embrace.

Mr. Dursley recognised the mother of Harry's best friend in the woman, who was eagerly hugging the girl and the child, cooing and giggling.

"Foolish folks." Vernon grunted, directing his gaze back at platform 9.

Two other redheaded boys arrived, patting the younger boy on the back, then turning to the girl. 

As he caught a glimpse of the twins, Dudley jumped behind the back of his father.

"Wow, Gin, what a beautiful little girl you have!" one of the boys said admiringly. "Hey, Harry made a good job!"

"Yup. Pity that he isn't here to see his _masterpiece_!" the other guy agreed. "May I hold her, sis?"

"You'd only drop her, George." the girl smirked.

"Meeee?" her brother yelled. "I'm the best father-substitute in the whole wizarding world!"

The girl seemed to contemplate his words. "If you promise that you won't feed 'modified' milk to her, then you may hold her." she gave the baby to the boy. "But if my daughter turns into a canary, I'll strangle you with my own hands, George!"

"Oh, Arthur, isn't she perfect?" Mrs. Weasley sighed, ogling Lily. "What do you think, Mr. Dursley?"

"Huh?" Vernon turned around. He was hoping that the crazy folks wouldn't recognise him.

"The baby." Molly smiled. "My granddaughter."

"… nice child." Vernon growled.

"Nice? Angelic!" Molly said, enraptured. "Your great-niece is a little fairy!"

"My… great-niece?" Vernon gasped.

"Yes." a brown-haired girl replied. "Harry's daughter."

Mr. Dursley glanced back at his son, who didn't seem surprised at all, just afraid of something. "Harry… that… that… no-good, worth-nothing…" Vernon began, but no one seemed to pay attention anymore.

A stout girl walked past them, giving Dudley (who was still hiding behind the back of his dad) a meaningful look. Dudley turned red and smiled at her.

No one, but Hermione noticed it.

* * * * *

Back at the Burrow, a huge sheet hanging between two trees greeted them, with the text _Welcome Lily!_ written on it.

Ginny had to smile. "Like she knew how to read."

"She'll know it soon." Fred asserted, enthusiastically tickling the baby's stomach. "And she'll learn how to play Quidditch, and transform her professors into slugs, and…"

"Fred!" Molly scowled at him. "She is only two weeks old!?"

Fred shrugged and continued tickling his niece.

"Don't do that if you don't want her to cover you with her breakfast." Ginny admonished, happy that her family loved her child so much.

In the hall, Percy and Fleur greeted them, the French girl with a radiant smile.

"'elcome back, Ginny." she hugged her. "Oh, ze little phrincess!" she yelled, rushing to Fred. "May I 'old her? Pleaze?"

Fred reluctantly handed the baby to his sister-in-law, who seemed absolutely taken with Lily. She started to rock her gently, humming something that no one understood. Soon the youngest Weasley was fast asleep, thanks to the French lullaby.

"Hello, Perce!" Ron greeted his brother, who only nodded, not showing the slightest happiness to see Ron again. As for Ginny, he seemed to be directly annoyed about her arrival.

The girl's smile faded as she noticed Percy's sullen expression.

"Don't take it to your heart." Fred grinned, pointed at his aloof brother. "He's had a hard week. Split up with Penelope, got a new boss in the person of Ludo Bagman… you know how much Percy despises Ludo."

"I've made cordon bleu an' bouillabaisse." Fleur reported.

Ginny saw the horrified look on Fred's, George's, Percy's, Molly's and Arthur's faces.

Fleur, however, didn't seem to notice it. "Vairy dhelicious." she declared.

"So, Hermione is taking you to the Moon Run?" Mr. Weasley asked, trying to swallow a chunk of stone-hard cordon bleu.

Ron nodded with rumbling stomach. He wasn't brave enough to taste Fleur's cooking. (Neither were the twins.)

Percy made a wry face and tossed some bouillabaisse into his mouth. Always the gentleman…

"And when is that race going to take place?" Molly turned to Ron.

"8th July."

"In a week, then." Arthur nodded. "Are you going to apparate?"

"Sure." Ron smirked. It had taken him lots of problems to learn apparating. Hermione, of course, managed to learn it in a weekend. For Ron it was extremely troublesome. First time he tried it, he turned up in the Shrieking Shack, instead of on the square before Dervish and Banges. Students, who were interested in this kind of magic, needed to learn it as an additional subject in Hogsmead on weekends, since it was impossible to perform in Hogwarts (as we all know from Hermione, who was still the only student at the whole school who had read _Hogwarts, a history_.)

"And where's Bill?" Ron asked.

"He's in Egypt with Sirius." Mrs. Weasley replied.

"What are they doing there?" Ron wondered. "Bill isn't working for Gringotts in Egypt anymore, is he?"

"No." Molly shook her head. "It's… it's about Harry."

Ginny looked up from her plate that was still full of bouillabaisse.

"What is with Harry?" she asked with an expression of hope.

"Harry was seen in Cairo about two months ago." Arthur replied.

"Cairo?" Ginny frowned. "What the hell could he be doing in Cairo, when he had family duties here?"

"You are so naive, sister." Percy interjected. "What could Harry be doing in Egypt? Well, surely not thinking of you and your child… do you know how many harems are there in Cairo?"

"But Percy!" Molly snapped.

"I'm just being rational, mum." Percy shrugged. "If someone starts down the dark path, darkness will rule his whole life. Harry's case is very similar: he got you, Ginny, but realised that you weren't enough to satisfy his enormous libido, so he looked for more chicks, and Cairo was the best place to do so."

Ginny's face turned red with fury. "You are evil-minded, and… and…"

"…impotent." George added.

"Hold your tongue!" Percy howled, jumping up from the kitchen table.

"Take it easy, Perce!" Fred chuckled. "You'll manage it next time!"

"Next time? What next time?" George sneered. "Penny won't give the bigheadboy another chance!"

Percy slapped his spoon into his plate with such a force that the soup splashed out of it, covering the table, Molly and Arthur's face, and the floor.

"I'm not going to take any more of this!" he bellowed and dashed out.

"Now you see why he was so morose when you arrived with the baby." George said. "Sour grapes."

Ginny gave him a questioning look.

"He wasn't capable of what Harry was." Fred explained.

"Ah…" Ginny nodded, barely able to hide her smile. Her stare met Fleur's who seemed to be struggling with the same urge of laughter.

Mrs. Weasley wiped the bouillabaisse from her face, to reveal a shocked expression.

Seeing it, neither girl managed hide their amusement anymore. Soon the whole kitchen was filled with laughter.

Molly blew her nose. "Poor dear Percy… he never told me."

"Why, mom, did you think he'd tell you something like this?" Ron grinned.

"He is right, Molly." Arthur nodded. "Men are too proud to… well, ya know."

"I hope we won't have to be ashamed of you, too, Ronnikins." Fred said.

"But Fred!" their mother scowled.

"Just kidding, mom." George answered. "Ron is a real man, isn't he?"

Ron blushed and seemed not to notice Ginny's wink.

However, it didn't avoid the twins' attention.

* * * * *

"The Potion of Eternity is almost ready, my lord." Wormtail bowed before Voldemort. "Only the last ingredient is missing."

"Ah… the last ingredient…" the dark lord's mouth tucked into a satisfied smirk. "Where is _the last ingredient_ at the moment, Wormtail?"

"In Ottery St. Catchpole, My Lord." Wormtail replied. "When should we fetch it?"

"In a week, Wormtail. The boomslang has to boil for another week, and then, only then can the last ingredient be added."

"I know, My Lord. And what about Potter? He isn't found yet."

"Oh, don't worry, my servant." Voldemort smiled. "We'll take care of him later… after I've gained immortality."

"Why only then, my lord?"

"Why?" Voldemort frowned. "You are such an ignorant fool, Wormtail! You know that only Harry Potter can hurt me! He, only he can be my undoing! That is why I've always wanted to get rid of him. But, if I'm immortal, not even he can harm me."

"I see, my lord. So first, we've got to get _the last ingredient_, then perform the ritual, and only after that look for Potter."

"Glad to hear that you got it." Voldemort nodded. "You are almost as slow on the uptake as Crabbe and Goyle… But at least you've got more sense than Malfoy… you'd never try to conceal anything from me, would you?"

Wormtail flinched from the dark lord's penetrating stare. "Of course I wouldn't, my lord." he bowed. 

"Good…" Voldemort smiled. "Soon I'll be immortal, and no Harry Potter will stand in my way!" his vicious cackling filled the dark room, almost causing Nagini get a heart attack.

* * * * *

At the same moment, a boy in India almost fell from his broomstick. He gripped it tightly, fighting the unbearable pain on his forehead. He turned the _Rocket 3000_ downwards, and somehow managed to reach the ground without passing out.

"What happened?" his coach, Mr. Ravin asked.

"I don't… know." the boy panted. "My forehead started to hurt so badly… I almost fainted."

"You've just overworked, kid. Rest a bit."

"No… I'm fine… got to train…" the boy mumbled, massaging his forehead.

"Okay, you may continue training, as soon as we've found a proper name for you."

"A name? Why?" the boy raised his eyebrows.

"Why… why…? Because all competitors have a name! Some of them play under their real names, others under pseudonyms. We have to find one for you."

"An Indian name?" the boy suggested.

"Not by all means." Ravin shrugged. "Your name has to mean something powerful, quick or the like. We'll think of it, right? The winner of the Moon Run has to have a victorious name… a name fit for a man who'll get a real fortune… five thousand galleons – not a bad amount of money, is it?"

"Yeah… and the two thousand galleons given to the coach aren't bad either, huh?" the boy asked sarcastically.

"Clever boy." Ravin smiled. "Very clever."


	29. The Moon Run

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A/N: OH MY, MORE THAN 1000 REVIEWS!!!! THANK YOU, PEOPLE!!!!

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jennaration: I'm glad you liked that part with Percy! You wanted me to say in Hungarian that Lily was not the last ingredient Voldemort needed. Okay, here it goes: "Lily nem az utolsó hozzávaló, amire Voldemortnak szüksége van." Okay, I said it (I might have lied, but you wanted me to say it!)

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Alexander Pheonix: the Dursleys starting to feel bad about what they did to Harry? No, why would they?????? I'll try to read your fic as soon as I have some time.

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Nikkianna: you asked how Ron and Hermione would continue their relationship is she was teaching at Hogwarts. Well, easily… you'll see :-)

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em_1701_e: by the time you'll be back in a month, the story will be finished.

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Basilisk: I'm NOT saying Ginny is going to die while saving Lily.

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IloveLinkinPark222: so you want longer chapters, huh? This one is pretty long.

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Amen: how can he still feel pain if he doesn't have the scar? You'll find out soon!

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Alexander Slytherin: listen – this is fanfiction.net, and NOT a chat-forum called "The Harry Potter movie sucks". If you want to talk about it, go somewhere else, I'm sure you can find lots of topics for those who hated the movie. I liked it – seen it twice. Anyway, it is quite understandable why the movie-makers left out so many things – had they not, the film would have been 6 hours long. Things simply NEEDED to be left out. I also found the name list a bit ridiculous, and there were other things I didn't like. But I still think it's a cool movie. You advised me to: "…watch the show, compare the book." I have, long ago. I still love the film and going to watch it again and again...

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Torikar: Harry won't stick out that much in India – the Moon Run is an international race, with lots of Europeans and North-Americans who are also pale. You asked who Fleur was with – in chapter 6 I mentioned that she had married Bill.

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LilBit: the same for you as for _Amen_.

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LisaQT3: you'll be surprised, but I DID have intentions of making people laugh. I'm sometimes a bit of a clown, you know… one of my acquaintances once told me that she was the Drama Queen. I thought: "if you are the Drama Queen, then I'm the Comedy Princess." Why do I think James looked old? Well, he looked at least 35, while he couldn't be older than 25 when he died. Oh, so you have finished your exams? I envy you so much! Mines started last week and will end only at the end of January.

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Zenon Lee: how could Voldie strike at the Burrow? Um, I won't tell that – it's irrelevant. He could strike with thirty death-eaters, for example. It won't be described in the fic. You said that everyone would know he is Harry Potter for the lightning scar would let the cat out of the bag. Oh, no, no, no! Harry's scar had disappeared back in chapter 13! (Not completely, just in a way, but no one can see it, so they can't recognise him. Had they been able to see his scar, he would have been recognised back in Egypt or something. Oh well, just read this chapter and you'll get to know things.)

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Shaun Wilson: no, I didn't know that in America fairy meant gay. I only knew that in British English it meant "A small imaginary creature with magic powers" – Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English. About the possible sequel: I simply can't think of a dark lord even more dangerous than Voldemort. There are fic in which Slytherin comes back, but I won't copy them. No, no clones! This is NOT Star Wars! 

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HP Blonde Crazy Chick: Congratulations! You are my 1000th reviewer! About the movie: my fave characters in the film were Ron and Hagrid. In the books my favourites are Harry, Dumbledore and Draco, but in the film Ron and Hagrid were the best. Yeah, Oliver was really hot!

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mosum: realistic? REALLY???? I never thought! Thanks!

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Padme: there were lots of things that bothered me about the movie, but I still love it! The critics can go the hell, I don't care for them!

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PepsiAngel: read my answer to _Torikar_.

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Julietta: I'm not telling you anything about Ginny's eyes… not yet. Ravin isn't that bad… he just wants money… he won't stand in anyone's way, so don't worry. You'll find out about the last ingredient in chapters 30 and 31.

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Anigurl88: I'm afraid I didn't understand "chicken butt." Sorry. I don't think we have an expression like that here in Hungary.

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Lyny: what did you mean by "I'm starting to create my own fanfic for your fanfic"??? You mean you try to continue it in thought? I also do that to other people's fics, lol.

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CartersGotBack and _Hobbit Feet_: thank you for saying that my fic is the best. I'm truly honoured.

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DarkFaery: I'm happy that you decided to read my fic after you found the summary slightly crap and tacky. You wrote: "I can't believe you managed to give the HP characters sex lives without making the story fluffy, crude of corny." Wow, thanks that was the highest compliment I could get, because it was EXACTLY what I wanted: romantic, but not too romantic. Glad to hear I succeeded. Yes, the story ends in 6 or 7 chapters – and everything will be tied up, I promise. Totally everything. (with only one or two smaller things being left open, so I can write a sequel). You weren't that much off the mark, but all what you wrote was a bit too simple… I'm not making it so simple for Harry and the gang.

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Maddie Star: I actually have written something original when I was 17 – even sent it to a publisher – naive me! It was kind of a sci-fi-fantasy-humor story about a Russian astronaut, a self-respecting spaceship, a crazy young witch (I hadn't read HP back then), and a lost prince. It was really funny, but as I look back… it sucked. Way too childish. About Harry's name… um, you seem to have the Sight!!!

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CrazyCow: read what I wrote to _Maddie Star_. You also have the Sight – are you related to Trelawney?

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Moony Lover: no, neither of your guesses were correct.

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Mandi: I used to upload the next chapters on Monday, Wednesday and Friday, but nowadays I don't do it that regularly – holidays are coming, I don't know when people have time to read.

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Meatball Head: oh no, the centaurs never told Ginny would find Harry. The centaurs referred to something else. You convinced me – I'm going to write a sequel (can't wait to start it, but nowadays my exams are giving me a lot to do, and don't have time to write.) Whaaat???? Lily having Harry's scar? Oh, no way!

Okay, before starting to read this chapter, you have to know that the Moon Run is based on a dream I had back in May. I still clearly remember: it was 5 a.m. when I woke up and remembered the most incredible dream I had ever had – I couldn't even go back to sleep, just lay there with open eyes and started planning how to insert that dream into the story I had just started to write. So when you read the Run, remember that it was Agi's dream.

Enjoy!

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Chapter 29

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The Moon Run

"Wow, Hermione, this was the longest jump I've ever accomplished!" Ron yelled. "Calcutta! Oh my, I never though I'd ever get here… not on Dad's salary, that is…"

"Wonderful place, for sure." the girl looked around at a huge and colourful marketplace. There were witches and wizards everywhere, offering hookahs, small models of the Taj Mahal, all kinds of textiles: silk, cashmere woven with gold; singing elephants, and – of course – all kinds of broomsticks.

"Look! A real _Rocket 3000_!" Ron cried with glee. "I'd give half my leg if I could own one of these!"

"500 galleons each." Hermione replied. "You'll never have that much money in your whole life."

Ron nodded, resigned.

"Serpent-charmers!" the girl pointed at a bunch of wizened wizards playing the flute. "And fakirs!"

"A wonder that Beautiful Bill isn't here." Ron murmured. "Just wait a bit, and his ghost might turn up."

Hermione didn't react upon his sarcasm. "Thanks to Beautiful Bill I know everything about India. About Shiva, and Kali, and every type of curses."

"Spare me, Herm." the boy sighed. "Don't start lecturing me about Beautiful Bill, will ya?"

"I should have left you at home!" she snapped. "I could as well have brought Percy with me! At least he'd appreciate my knowledge on this exotic culture."

"Maybe he would…" Ron's mouth tucked into a smirk. "But he's impotent, Hermione."

The girl turned red.

"I'm NOT." he added.

"Not in the least." she blushed even more. "Hey, come on, let's find our hotel."

"I have a map." Ron reached into his satchel and pulled out a map of the wizard Calcutta. "Here we are, at Market Bagira." he pointed at a small spot on the unfolded paper. "The hotel, the _Sneaky Cauldron_ is about 700 metres away, right behind the Suttee Crescent."

"My, what a likeable name!" Hermione wrinkled her nose. "Well, at least our rooms are booked in forward."

"Room_s_?" Ron grinned, looking at their tickets for the Run. "Here stands _one_ room, Herm. Only one…"

"Wipe that smirk off your face!"

* * * * *

The last rays of the setting sun broke through the window, fondling Hermione's face. She opened her eyes, blinked, and stretched her limbs. She couldn't believe how long they'd overslept.

"Admit that you are happy that you haven't brought Percy instead of me." Ron reached out to curl one of the locks around his fingers.

She couldn't help laughing. "Oh, yes, I admit it, Ron. I do."

"Glad to hear." he bent down to kiss her.

"Um… Roooooooooon…" she tried to get free from his embrace. "Let me go!"

"Why, my sweet chocolate mousse?" he snuggled his nose into her neck.

"Because we are going to miss the race if we don't get up immediately." she reminded him.

"Why do you always have to be such a spoilsport?" Ron groaned. "I'd rather stay here with you forever…" he reached out to stroke her thigh, but she was quicker and jumped out of the bed.

"Time to get up!" she yelled, hastily putting on her clothes. "While you get ready, I'll go down and get programs."

In front of the stadium, a several hundred metres long queue was waiting to get in. 

Ron stifled a yawn. "My, Herm, what took you so long?"

"You can't imagine how difficult it was to get free copies of these." she joined him in the queue. They both peered into the programs. "England has sent Donald McFlurry." she stated.

"Not a bad broomstick-rider, but I know a lot of people better than him." Ron commented. "The real aces are the German Udo Schnellchen and the Italian Maledetto Borgia."

"I know everything about the Borgia family." Hermione said. "They were the greatest poison makers in whole Europe."

Ron shrugged and continued reading. "…Dimitrij Gribov from Russia… Lumiere Souffle from France… Aladdin ben Ibn from Saudi-Arabia… Apollo Aphroditus from Greece… Winnetou Wigwam from the U.S.A. Um, strange that the Americans are sending an Indian… Lightning from India…" he turned to Hermione, frowning. "_Lightning_? What kind of name is that?"

"Must be a new guy." Hermione replied. "I heard that the player of India died a couple of months ago. Fell off his broom. They needed a substitute, I guess."

"Sandokan was a cool broomstick-rider. No one could live up to his standard. This Lightning, or who will suck."

"Maybe. We'll see." she shrugged, giving their tickets to the usher.

"Third row." the usher instructed them. They climbed up to their seats and sat down.

"I feel a bit like at the Quidditch World Cup four years ago." Ron said. "But not even that was an event of such magnitude. 300.000 wizards and witches! This race hasn't been held in the past 232 years."

"And you wanted to stay in bed and miss all these." Hermione reminded him.

"I was just kidding, sweetheart. There won't be another chance in my whole life to watch the Moon Run, while I can have sex with you anytime."

"Anytime?" she crossed her arms. "Are you expecting me to be always this weak?

"Exactly." he nodded, grinning.

"You are wrong, then. In September I'll start teaching at Hogwarts, and you'll either be working in Hogsmeade, or stay at the Burrow. You won't have a chance to seduce me as often as you would like to."

"I guess I'll manage it somehow." Ron smirked. "Look! Isn't that Cornelius Fudge over there?"

"Are you crazy? What could that git be doing here?"

"The same as we. Watch the race."

Hermione lifted her omnioculars to her eyes. "No, it's not Fudge. This guy looks more intelligent."

"It isn't hard to look more intelligent than him." Ron remarked. "Look! A bunch of Bedouin sorcerers! And there – isn't it a Chinese mandarin?"

"Oh, David Copperfield!" Hermione yelled.

"Where?" the boy started raking the crowd through his omnioculars.

"There! Shame that he had broken up with Claudia Schiffer! They looked so good together!"

"Claudia? Who's that?" Ron asked.

"A famous photo-model. Kind of a Muggle Fleur Delacour."

Ron blushed a bit. He still vividly remembered his infatuation with the most charming Tri-Wizard champion. Back then he wouldn't have guessed that Fleur would be his sister-in-law, neither did he suspect what terrible a cook she was.

He still remembered how humiliated he felt when Fleur turned him down after asking her to be his partner to the Yule-ball… he remembered her kiss, too, when he and Harry helped Gabrielle out of the lake.

It was nice to brood over these memories.

When he finally looked up, he realised that the sky was almost dark. It had to be, though, because the Moon Run was not only a race of broomsticks – it was something special, and extremely expensive, held in night.

As soon as she got to know that she'd have a chance to watch the Run, Hermione buried herself into books, searching for data about it.

"I've heard a lot about the Run, but there are stuff I'm not sure about." Ron turned to her.

"What?"

"Well, I know that the competitors have to race in this small – Quidditch-stadium-sized – model of the Solar System, but… why exactly is it called Moon Run?"

"Ah, that's easy." Hermione replied. "The racers have to dodge the comets, asteroids and planets while they fly. The size of the planets are… let's see… Mercury is 5 inches in diameter, Venus is 6 inches, Earth 7 inches, Mars 6 inches, Jupiter 90 inches, Saturn 80, Uranus 70 inches, Neptune 60 and Pluto 3 inches." she cast a smug glance at Ron, waiting for his approval. 

He only wrinkled his nose. "So many superfluous data… is your head a Muggle computer or what?… Oh, well, I know the size of the planets but I still don't know why the Run is called Moon Run."

"Well, the racers have to complete 9 rounds in the stadium. At the end of the final round, the competitor who catches the Moon (one inch in diameter), wins the race. It's so simple."

"Aha." he nodded, a bit confused.

"Did you know," she continued, delighted to have an opportunity to show her knowledge, "that at the Moon Run the death rate is by 80% higher than during the Quidditch World Cups, and by 20% higher than in the Tri-Wizard Tournaments of the old ages? The mini Solar System is rotating with the speed of 1 metre/sec, the planets move by 2 m/sec, and the Moon - that circles Earth – with a speed of 10 m/sec. During the latest Moon Run - held exactly 232 years ago – 5 competitors died, 37 were seriously and 21 lightly injured. One of the victims collided with Jupiter, another got smashed by Uranus and Neptune. There was a guy who happened to fly into the thickest asteroid field, and the asteroids broke his broom, and he fell off. A witch, called Halley Bopp, was burnt by a comet, and someone suffocated from star-dust."

Ron wrinkled his nose. "You've really prepared."

"Of course I have." she answered with her most insufferable know-it-all face. 

"Then could you explain how we are going to see the competitors? It's dark, you know."

"Ah, that's quite simple." she replied. "Some illuminating-charms will be cast on all of them, so they'll look fluorescent."

"I see." Ron nodded. "Oh, look! They're starting!"

It was already ten o'clock, the sky pitch-black, though the stars weren't visible because of the lights of the magical lamps and projectors.

Suddenly all lights went out and an – up till now – invisible race ground appeared in front of the spectators' eyes: planets and meteorites reflecting the artificial sun's rays, shimmering comets coursing among the planets, and a small, nimble Moon orbiting Earth in the mini Solar System.

"Wonderful!" Hermione yelled, enraptured.

"How is it possible that the sun is shining, but not blinding us?" Ron wondered.

"It's simple magic." she replied.

"Simple?" he looked astonished. "That's the most advanced magic I've ever seen!"

"Shhhh!" she hushed him, as the commentator began to speak with a voice magnified by the _Sonorus_ charm.

"Ladies and gentle-wizards! It is a great pleasure for me to be able to open the 20th Moon Run, the race that hasn't been held for more than 230 years. It is an even greater honour that India has been chosen to host the Run. Our country has never had a chance to arrange a race of such importance. The latest race held here was the Quiddtich World Cup of 1555. As you all know, the reason why the Moon Run hasn't been held for two centuries, is that the last one ended with 5 lethal cases, and 58 injuries out of the 70 competitors. I can assure you now, that India has made all precautions to prevent lethal accidents. And now, enough of my blabbering… let us get to know tonight's competitors, who have come from 67 countries!"

The crowd exploded into a thunderous applause.

"First, the champion of Argentina: Juan Pablo Jose Armando Fernando Altamirano del Castillo! He is followed by the Brazil Gumercindo Heriberto!" as the racers swooped into the stadium, the spectators cheered and flourished flags.

"… the German Udo Schnellchen, Laszlo Szélltoló from Hungary right behind him…" the speaker kept enumerating the names, "… followed by the Indian champion, Lightning, there comes Maledetto Borgia from Italy…"

As the Indian competitor flew into the racing ground, Ron almost dropped his omnioculars.

"I can't believe it!" he cried.

"What?" Hermione turned to him.

"Look in your omnioculars!" the boy shouted.

Hermione lifted the small object to her eyes, inspecting the Jamaican racer. "Now what?" she frowned.

Ron gripped her neck and turned her into the Indian champion's direction.

"LOOK – AT – LIGHTNING!" he shouted into her left ear.

Hermione obeyed, having no idea what could be so interesting about the Indian substitute racer. As she caught a glimpse of 'Lightning', she froze, as if she had been stricken by the Full Body Bind curse. "Impossible…" she mumbled. "Absolutely impossible!"

"But it's… it's _Harry_, isn't it?" Ron waited for her reassurance.

"Either he, or an unknown twin of his." she replied, her voice shaking. But of course she knew that Harry couldn't have had a sibling. It was him.

She finally nodded. "It's Harry."

Ron suddenly turned red with fury, not hearing the speaker announce Ulu Bulu from Uganda and Zazu Zulu from Zimbabwe. "What the hell is he doing here????"

"Racing…" she shrugged.

"RACING???" the boy cried. "While my sister is nursing his baby alone at home? He was here making joyrides on a _Rocket 3000_ while Ginny almost died giving birth to his child? And I once called this bastard my best friend!!! For Voldemort's sake, I should have killed him with the stabbing curse back in November!"

Hermione gaped. "Ron, you have said THE NAME!!!"

The boy blinked. "Have I? I didn't notice… Never mind. I'll kill him as soon as the Run ends… or let's just hope that he gets flattened by Saturn!"

"But Ron!" the girl hushed him, "We don't know what happened to him… he might have had a good reason to flee and come here."

"Good reason, huh?" he fumed.

"Listen, Ron, if he survives the Run, we'll talk to him and give him a chance to explain everything." Hermione suggested.

"Always the rational." Ron growled, and turned his attention back to the race ground, where all the competitors were already hovering before the starting line, waiting for the start signal.

Hermione, trembling with excitement, lifted her omnioculars to her eyes, not taking her glance off the racer of India. Her heart was pounding aloud, but she still could hear Ron muttering:

"Fall down… break your neck…!"

The speaker now made a flick with his wand, silencing the audience.

All 300.000 spectators fell silent, only the croaking of a toad could be heard.

Everyone was waiting for the signal, holding their breaths. The commentator looked around, furtively smiling - his face was magically illuminated in the darkness.

The crowd was still waiting, more and more excited – and more and more impatient.

"He is doing this deliberately, isn't he?" Ron pointed at the commentator.

"Shhh!" she replied, still ogling 'Lightning'.

The speaker seemed to be enjoying the spectators' nervousness. When he saw that everyone was on tenter-hooks, he suddenly waved his hand, ejecting green sparks from it.

The racers rocketed away from the starting line, the crowd burst out yelling, some of them even jumped up from their seats.

The Cambodian racer was the first to fall out of the run – and off his broomstick – after a collision with Mars (that wasn't bright that night).

"And the field is reaching Uranus, the French champion on the lead…" the speaker's voice resounded. "Very nice flying, Monsieur Souffle… but wait… the Swedish Nils Holgersson comes forward – oh my, that boy can fly both ganders and broomsticks! The Greek Apollo Aphroditus is gaining on them, to the ladies' greatest happiness…" he remarked with a wink. "Ouch! Poor Peng Ching Chun! That must have hurt! The mediwizards are already taking care of him. Well, well, Pluto might be small, but hits like a bludger!"

Hermione didn't listen to the commentator – the only racer she was interested in, was the 'Indian' one. 

Ron had finally stopped wishing bad-luck to 'Lightning' – or at least he didn't do it aloud.

There was an abrupt flare of light – Hale Bopp hit the Mongolian racer.

"The first round is completed, only eight more to go…" the speaker carried on. "The leaders are Souffle, Aphroditus and Holgersson, but Szélltoló is gaining on them… well, these Hungarians have to learn to fly quickly if they want to escape their Horntail dragons! LOOK! The new champion of India is taking over the Canadian Jack Ottawa and the British Donald McFlurry! Wow, that boy is really a lightning! No wonder that the coaches have kept his capabilities a secret during the past two months… Oh my, the Slovak Zelma Wzdensky and the Japanese Yin Tien are duelling in the asteroid field between Mars and Jupiter! FAULT!!! No wands may be used during the Run!… And the referee is already blowing his whistle, instructing the two ladies to leave the race ground…"

The disappointed Ms. Wzdensky and the hissing Yin Tien left the pitch, the latter sending a Furunculus curse on the former, after they got off their brooms. Ms. Tien was rewarded by a jelly-leg jinx in exchange.

"Hans Jürgen Schönnkugelaugen from Switzerland is taking over the Turkish Jusuf Erdem, and the Spanish Jose Carlos Santiago. But no… Schönnkugelaugen's broom is malfunctioning… slowing down… Switzerland doesn't have any chance to win the run anymore! Oh well, Luz Maria, the racer of Peru – the most charming witch in the field, in my opinion, - is accelerating, swooping forward between Winnetou Wigwam from the U.S.A. and Geyser Freeze from Iceland. Oh, no!!! The champion of Tansania has just collided with the Danish and the Portugese competitors! Don't worry, ladies and gentleman, the mediwizards are on the way, and up till now no one has died!" the commentator carried on.

"And the field is reaching the end of the second round, and still 58 champions are in race! An exciting Run we are having, dear spectators!"

Neither the commentator, nor anyone else in the stadium knew who was the most excited about the outcome of the Run: Hermione. She still didn't divert her stare from 'Lightning', her heart beating aloud. "Ron, Ron, do you see Harry's face?"

Ron turned to her, frowning. "I'm not interested in his face."

"But you should be! Look! What can you see when the wind blows his locks from his forehead?"

Ron unwillingly lifted his omnioculars to his eyes. "Whad'ya…" he started, then gasped in surprise. "The scar is gone!!!" he breathed.

Hermione nodded. "I feared my eyes were wrong… but if you don't see it either…"

"How is this possible, Herm?" he asked.

She shook her head. "Dark magic, what else?"

"Do you think… that Harry's become an evil warlock?"

"Nay." she replied. "Well… hope not."

Meanwhile the racers finished the third round, four other champions fell out: the racers from Uruguay, Kuwait, the Philippines and Trinidad and Tobago.

The asteroids kept acting like the worst of bludgers, knocking the competitors of Ireland, Sierra Leone, New Zealand and Croatia off their broomsticks.

The Etiopian racer got scorched by the Halley comet, the Algerian's broomstick went berserk and ran into Neptune at the end of the fifth round.

"The Mexican Speedy Gonsales is gaining on the Korean racer… he has now reached Apollo Aphroditus and Lumiere Souffle, trying to take over… and he does it! Ladies and gentle-wizards, what a racer! What a race!… Now Gonsales, Lightning and Schnellchen are on the lead, competing head-on… but the Hungarian champion isn't a pushover, either – he is overtaking Souffle, reaching Schnellchen… now they are flying right beside each other… FAULT!!! Schnellchen tried to shove Gonsales off his broomstick! He is sent out – well, deserved it!"

The German supporters began to curse, shaking their fists at the Mexican spectators and at the referee. Some of the fans started sending curses at each other, and one of the German sorcerers sent a hurling hex on Speedy Gonsales' broom, that went out of control, finally banging against Mercury.

The referee blew his whistle.

"Listen, all German and Mexican supporters! Either stay put or leave the grandstands at once! Don't make the Police-Wizard Enforcement throw you out!"

The German and Mexican supporters kept hissing and growling, but put their wands back into the pocket of their robes.

"Acting like kids!" Hermione remarked disapprovingly. "Like a thousand Malfoys!"

Ron nodded, turning his attention back to the events at the race ground. The seventh round was finished, eleven people fell out again. 

The French and the Greek competitors were flying on the lead, the racers of Burundi and Thailand bringing up the rear.

"Souffle is performing an amazing sprint, closely followed by Aphroditus, Szélltoló and Lightning! Only two more rounds, dear spectators… what an excitement! Aphroditus is putting on speed, Souffle is trying to overtake, but it seems that the Greek racer's advantage is too great... The champion of Hungary is overtaking Souffle… watch out for that… Moon! Oh, my, oh my, the Moon has hit Szélltoló in the chest, knocking the wind out of him… poor guy, he should have avoided the Moon until next round!… Szélltoló out, Lightning gaining on the two leaders…"

"Go, Harry, go!" Hermione shouted, jumping up from her seat.

Ron pulled her back. "Herm, we are supposed to be rooting for McFlurry! Harry, for the time being, is playing for India!"

"Who the hell cares?" she retorted. "C'mon, Harry, show 'em! You're the best!"

Ron rolled his eyes, being sure that Harry couldn't hear anything from the roar of the crowd.

"One more round only!" the speaker howled with his magically enhanced voice. "Still 27 champions in race, and now comes the most exciting part of the Run: the racers reaching Earth in the ninth round may catch the Moon, and win the Run! The most possible winners are Souffle, Lightning and Aprhoditus… look! The Moon has come into sight again, all racers are putting on a spurt, Souffle overtaking Aphroditus, Aphroditus overtaking Souffle, Lightning outrunning them both…"

"That's it, Harry!" Hermione yelped with glee.

Even Ron was crossing his fingers, his mouth moving, forming unheard words – this time they weren't ill-luck wishes.

At that very moment the Greek competitor's mouth also started to move – murmuring mysterious words – his right hand stretched out into Lightning's direction. 

Harry's _Rocket 3000_ suddenly rocketed upwards, as if he was to fly directly to the real Moon, disappearing into the dark sky above.

"That bastard!" Ron yelled with clenched fists. "He was hexing Harry!"

"I saw it!" Hermione replied, her face crimson with fury.

The referee blew his whistle with a small delay, preventing Aphroditus from catching the tiny Moon.

"FAULT! Mr. Aphroditus, please, immediately leave the race ground!"

The Greek racer's handsome face contorted into the expression of a man just turning into a werewolf.

"Souffle goes for the Moon… six metres… five… four… Whoa!"

The Indian champion's _Rocket 3000_ burst into sight again, swooping through the gap between Venus and Earth, crossing the course of Souffle's broom in a breathtaking dive.

As he pulled out of the dive with a sudden vertical hairpin bend – performed only two feet above the ground -, he was already holding the small, greyish Moon in his hand.

"HE DID IT!" Hermione threw herself on Ron's neck, tears of happiness and relief coursing down on her cheeks.

"Yes, he did." Ron smiled, peering over her shoulder, following Harry with his stare. "He did it."

As Harry got off his broom, he got surrounded by the local supporters at once. They lifted him on their shoulders, carrying him up onto a high dais, where the Minister of Magic of India shook his hand (with tear-soaked face) and placed a medal around his neck.

The crowd burst into applause – Ron and Hermione's hand got also numb with clapping.

"Come, we've got to talk to him!" Ron jumped up.

"Are you out of your mind?" she frowned. "His tent, or whatever he is staying in, will be overcrowded for several hours. You know – people asking for autographs, bringing flowers and bombs…"

"Bombs???" Ron gaped.

"Well, almost… They are curses in envelopes, but function as Muggle bombs." she said matter-of-factly. "I presume at least the Greek and the French fans will try to smuggle some 'bombs' into his tent – hidden in congratulating cards or the like." she saw Ron's astounded expression. "Hey, don't worry… sending curses and bottles of wine or champagne with some poison in them has always been a tradition in the Moon Run. Harry is well protected from these – and has some common sense not to open those letters or drink those brews."

Though somewhat insecurely, Ron nodded.

It was already past nine in the morning when the enthusiastic admirers disappeared, and Harry was left alone in his tent. He wanted to get some sleep, since he hadn't slept for about 24 hours.

The camp was still silent, everyone returned to their respective tents to rest a bit after the previous night's excitements.

"How are we gonna get to him?" Hermione worried. "Two guards are watching his sleep."

Her boyfriend smirked, pulling out something silvery from his rucksack.

"You've got the invisibility cloak!" she rejoiced.

"I thought it might come in handy." he replied. "And of course I wanted to take care of it for Harry."

She gave him a smile, indicating how much she appreciated his thoughtfulness.

They covered themselves with the cloak, approaching the two guards. When they were only a couple of feet away from them, they raised their wands and whispered _Stupefy_!

The guards collapsed to the ground.

Ron entered the tent, closely followed by Hermione.

In the tent some candles were still lit, the new Moon Run Champion was sitting on a cot, gazing at the golden medal in his hands. It was glittering, reflecting the candlelight. Its smooth surface mirrored the boy's face.

He let out a sigh.

He had just given autographs to at least 900 people, received innumerable bouquets of exotic flowers, even indecent proposals from a dozen of witches… he WAS the champion – the best broomstick-rider on Earth… However, he didn't feel happy – although Ravin, before the run, had told him that he was the illegitimate son of a maharajah who only had daughters from his wife, the maharani. According to Ravin, (who happened to "recognise" him at the first sight back in Egypt), Harry was cursed and sent far away from India by the maharani who didn't want him to inherit the throne. Given Harry's jet-black hair, he actually could have been half-Indian.

Knowing the "truth" didn't make Harry happier. Not in the least.

He had a large part of his life missing – it was not admirers he needed, but true friends – it was not proposals he wanted, but the love of a single person whom he couldn't remember, but knew existed.

The golden medal in his hand shimmered, mirroring his tired-looking green eyes… and two forms behind his back.

He hopped up, grabbing his wand, turning around.

"Stop!" he yelled.

The two forms – a boy and a girl of his age – held up their hands.

"It's okay… we haven't come to hurt you, Harry!" the girl said.

"Yeah, don't worry, I have decided not to throttle you – yet." the boy added. "Not that you wouldn't deserve it…"

Harry frowned. Ravin had told him that winners of the Moon Run used to be kidnapped once in a while. Harry suspected that the boy and the girl came to stun and kidnap him. "Who are you?" he demanded, pointing his wand at the visitors.

Ron grinned. "Very funny, pal. C'mon, enough of playing, let's go home. Ginny's waiting for you."

"Who?" Harry blinked. "I don't know you. Leave me alone!"

"Harry… we know how famous you've become as 'Lightning', but it's no excuse for abandoning your beloved ones, or escaping your responsibilities!" the girl declared with a very serious face.

"What – the – hell – are – you – talking – about?" the new champion burst out. "Get out of my tent!"

"Not until you've explained why you left my sister!" the redheaded boy crossed his arms.

"I don't even know you sister!"

"No? Then who the hell impregnated her, huh?" 

"Don't know, couldn't be me… I'm not even British!" Harry retorted.

"Not British???" the other boy's eyes glinted with fury. "Then what are you? Japanese?" He stepped closer, risking that Harry might curse him. "I thought you were my very best friend – one of the few people whom I could trust my life with, but you, you screwed it up! After you knocked up my sister, you swore to marry her, but you left to get even more famous instead! The fame and glory that you had had before, weren't enough, huh? You wanted more – wanted to parade before huge, cheering crowds! You gave up Ginny's love for this… this whole… crap!" he poked the befuddled Harry's chest with his index finger. "Everyone thought you were dead, or hexed, because the owls couldn't find you! We even feared that you might have been captured by You-Know-Who, and you didn't care to give a sign of life to assure us that you hadn't kicked the bucket! You didn't care to send a fucking owl to ask how Ginny was doing! It's okay if you didn't care for Hermione and me, your best friends, but that you weren't interested in Ginny and your child is simply unacceptable and disgusting!"

"Ron…" the girl cut in.

"I'm sorry, but…" Harry began, but the other boy didn't let him finish.

"SORRY???" he gave out a hysteric laugh. "You're _sorry_? For You-Know-Who's sake, Harry, is that all you can say? That you are _sorry_?" he took another step forward, so that his nose was almost touching Harry's. "Well, _you should be_ sorry! While you were here, having fun and building a career, my sister almost died giving birth to your daughter! And you dare say that you _don't know her_?"

"YES!" Harry yelled – only to be spat in the eye by the redheaded boy.

He showed his attacker away, wiping his face, and raised his wand to stupefy him, but the other boy was quicker and implemented the _impedimenta_ curse on him.

Harry was thrown off his feet. "_Expelliarmus_!" he shouted from the ground, but the attacker jumped aside, and without thinking, cried: "_Crucio_!"

Harry was hit by the most terrible spasms, feeling his whole body being torn apart, as though thousands of spears had been stabbed into him, along with a dozen of whips lashing his defenceless body.

"NOOOOO!" the girl's voice shrieked.

Harry was too much in pain to see her grab her companion's wand-holding hand, forcing him to break the connection between the wand and Harry's writhing body.

"Are you crazy, Ron?" she yelled with a livid face. "You'll be sent into Azkaban for this!"

The red-haired boy lowered his wand, panting. "Don't… care… he deserved it."

Harry, lying on the floor, slowly opened his eyes. The pain was gone – so was the mist that had been fogging his mind for eight months. As though the mist had been blown away by a sudden gust of wind – or if a veil had been lifted from his memories… inexplicably, he REMEMBERED.

He sat up, looking into his friend's eyes.

"Ron… Hermione…" he was on the verge of tears.

Hermione saw the changed expression on his face.

Ron was still gasping for breath, but he also perceived that something had changed – first of all, Harry's scar became visible again. But there was something else, too.

"Harry…" the girl crouched down next to him. "Are you all right?"

Harry nodded. "Yeah, I remember everything again."

"You… you what?" Ron dropped to his knees.

"I had amnesia… didn't remember a thing from my past."

"When… when did you lose your memory?" the girl asked with a trembling voice.

"Right after I received the letter from Dumbledore that I could go back the Hogwarts, because the journalists were gone." Harry replied.

"So that was what Malfoy's brew contained: obliviator potion." Hermione pursed her lips. "Why… why did none of the teachers tell us that Harry had lost his memories?"

"Maybe they didn't know." Ron shrugged. "Geez, Harry… I thought…" his voice faltered, and he suddenly pulled his friend into a firm hug. "Can you forgive me? Can you _ever _forgive me?"

Harry couldn't help but smile – and knew that this was the first true, heart-felt smile he'd given someone since November.

"Oh, Harry!" Hermione also flung her arms around his neck.

The three friends embraced, Hermione sobbing, the boys awkwardly wiping their tears, grinning. 

"Thanks, Ron." Harry said.

"Thanks? For what?"

"For breaking the curse."

"Huh?" Ron made an extremely stupid face.

"Well, I was under the effect of a potion combined with a curse…" Harry replied. "Its effect could only be lifted by my best friend implementing the _Cruciatus_ curse on me… You have no idea how desperate I was… I gave up hope… never thought I'd meet my best friend again, let alone that he'd curse me. Thanks, pal."

"You're welcome." Ron grinned.

Finally they stood up, their bright smiles in sharp contrast with tears brimming their eyes.

Harry was the first to speak. "So… I… have a daughter?" 

"Yup." Ron nodded. "A beautiful little witch, called Lily."

"Lily?" Harry was truly touched. "Oh, my, I'd like to see her and Ginny right now!"

"Then get your things, and wait for us until we return with ours." Hermione said. "Won't take longer than five minutes."

"You're gonna apparate?" Harry asked. "I've also learnt that."

"Have you? How? Where? You were missing from the school!" Hermione looked confused.

"Well… I learned it from an Egyptian guy, when I was in Cairo with Gilderoy." Harry slapped his forehead, and started to chortle. "Gilderoy… I _remember_ him!"

Ron and Hermione didn't understand what could be so funny about Lockhart.

"By the way," Hermione interjected, "Why did you think you weren't British?"

"Oh, that…" Harry grinned. "Ravin fed a story to me about me being the son of a maharajah… Totally crazy, that guy. He'd do anything for money, just to keep me here to race for India."

Suddenly an owl flew into the tent, carrying a message from the Weasley family.

"An express-owl!" Hermione noticed. "It must have cost…"

"Half the Taj Mahal." Harry remembered Ravin's words. "Why did your parents send you such an expensive owl?"

"Must be an extremely important message." the girl guessed.

Ron unfolded the telegram and let his friends peer into it.

RON COME HOME STOP GINNY AND LILY KIDNAPPED STOP PRESUMABLY BY YKW STOP DAD STOP

"Kidnapped?" Harry blanched.

"YKW?" Ron frowned.

"You-Know-Who." Hermione breathed.

"_Beware the sunrise at Stonehenge_." Harry whispered, his voice distant, his stare rigid.

"What?"

"What time is it?" Harry asked hastily.

"Uh, ten o' clock." Hermione looked at her watch that she had adjusted to India's time zone.

"Sunrise… the Sun is going to rise in Britain in a couple of minutes!" Harry mumbled with a face as white as a sheet.

"And?" Ron shrugged, having no idea why it made Harry so jittery.

"Something terrible is about to happen at sunrise… Ginny and Lily kidnapped… the serpent charmer… he was talking about this…"

"Huh?"

"We've got to go to Stonehenge. Immediately." Harry declared. He didn't know how he associated the crazy old wizard's prediction with the kidnapping of his lover and child, and with the Dark Lord, but he simply _knew_ that there _was _a connection.

His friends didn't oppose. Their belongings were totally forgotten.

"Apparate to Stonehenge on the count of three." Harry instructed. "One… two… three…"

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A/N2: so the run was my dream (my enthusiasm for astronomy reflected in it) – but you won't believe what my latest dream was!!!! I dreamt about Voldemort wearing a shower-hat (I don't what it's called in English, but you wear it when you shower so that you hair won't get wet). So, there he was, wearing this hat and having a shower in my toilet! Not in the bathroom but in the loo! Voldemort!!! (Don't worry, I'm not going to write a fic about this dream…lol)


	30. The sacrifice

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A/N: thanks for teaching me the word "shower cap"! LOL!

BEFORE STARTING TO ANSWER YOUR REVIEWS, I'D LIKE TO WISH YOU ALL A **VERY MERRY CHRISTMAS**!!!!!

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Armageddon: nice to see you here again, Mat! (are you ready with your parody???) About your question: sorry, can't answer that :-)

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Dark Faery: yeah, it'd spoil it if Harry didn't graduate. But I won't spoil it, promise! You'll see Dumbledore soon again. I also love Stonehenge – haven't been there yet, but it looks so cool, so mysterious! I hope you did well on your maths test!

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zzxm: you wrote: "you probably have the most read/most liked story on this site." – now, do I? *grins*

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CarterGotBack: yes, I already have ideas for a sequel, though they are somewhat blurry. But I've started writing it – just don't have time for it! *pouting*

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firechild: there WILL be something at the end that you'd NEVER expect :-) ((at least I hope you'd never expect…)) Um, what does "tres bien" mean? Is it something in French? Are you from France?

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jennaration: you wanted another Hungarian sentence: "Lily (vagy Ginny) meghal, és Harry visszahozza õt a Zöld Lángú Fáklyával." There. ((are you learning Hungarian??? just kidding)). Yes, I did have lots of fun when thinking up the names of the racers – I wanted to name most of them after movie/cartoon characters or give them names that have funny meanings.

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Mandi: yes, Harry will see his child – very soon!

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LilBit: why should I be afraid about my dream?

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jenny: yes, I do love cartoons! (ridiculous, I'm 20 and still love them!)

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X Tow Naga: you wrote: "didn't you say he wouldn't be recognised at the race?" – No, I didn't say he wouldn't be recognised, I said he wouldn't be recognised from his scar! (but since Ron and Herm knew him well, they managed to recognise him without the scar.) No, Harry won't have Hermione as a teacher, since she'll teach Arithmancy and Harry doesn't study that subject.

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HarryPotterCC1: no, I'm not a professional writer, I'm quite far from being one.

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Nest Freemark: you know, I'd still think Daniel Radcliffe was sexy, even if I saw him in a shower cap! LOL…

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Hobbit_Feet: May the Force be with Harry Potter! – I really liked this :-)

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Pschan_88: in my Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English "maharajah" has two forms: with and without an "h" at the end. Are you from Malaysia? Wow! It must be a very exotic country! Yes, we do have lots of snow here in Hungary – minus 5-10 Celsius degrees, so the snow doesn't even melt!

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Blaubärin: I'm really interested in your weird and amazing dreams… maybe you could tell me about them in your next mail, okay? No, I haven't explained the dis- and reappearance of the scar – I'll explain it in this chapter. Btw, what does the abbreviation "rotfl" stand for?

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Zenon Lee: Voldemort could have tortured Harry, but it wouldn't have restored his memory – according to Abysmal sun-Amun (who is really an expert on amnesiac cases) it had to be Harry's best friend who had to torture him.

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obi_ewan_maul_lover: no, I don't know people having the names I gave to the racers. I borrowed the names from stories like "Nils Holgersson" by Selma Lagerlöff (it's a Norwegian tale about a boy magically reduced to 15 cm in height, who travels to Lapland on a gander called Martin. I used to love that tale very much when I was a small child.) Luz Maria for example comes from a silly Peruvian soap-opera, "Schönnkugelaugen" means "beautiful ball-like eyes" in German. You know what Souffle means, don't you? See, I was kind of playing with words and characters – it was really fun!

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Hermione Gulliver: so, you were thinking ahead to a tearful reunion at the Burrow… well… it might get tearful…

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K-K: no, Ron won't get into Azkaban, since no one else but Harry and Hermione know about Ron casting the Cruciatus curse on Harry – and they won't reveal it to the wizard law enforcement :-)

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teacherchez: you asked me to insert my silly Voldie dream into the fic. Well, I might insert it into the sequel, is that okay?

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Nikkianna: you lucky one! You have finished your exams! I'm green with envy!

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jeanineDR23: I know where Dominica is (I've always been pretty good at geography) – it's really fun to know that people from all over the world visit ffnet!

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Lucretia: you asked about the way Ginny and Lily were kidnapped. That will left to your imagination – let's say that Voldemort burst into the Burrow with 30 death-eaters, stupefied everyone and kidnapped them.

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VeRyWiLdWiTcH: I hope you could find a tissue in time ;-)

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IloveLinkinPark222: you asked about László Szélltoló – no, he isn't a real guy. My dad's name is László (Leslie in English), that's why I gave the racer that name. "Szélltoló" has a really funny meaning – "szél" means "wind", "toló" means "someone who pushes something". So "Szélltoló" could mean that he is so fast that he pushes the wind before himself. Otherwise the word "széltoló", when not divided into two parts, means "swindler".

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Rab: Ravin won't say anything – you won't see him again. I had enough of him, bad greedy guy. He got his money, he can be happy with it.

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tasha and _Dark_eldar50_: I have actually drawn a pic about Harry and Ginny in the prefect's bathroom, but I don't have a scanner, and I wouldn't bring that pic to be scanned somewhere else – just imagine what people would say seeing it! LOL! Anyway, it's a cute pic – Harry and Ginny are standing (very close to each other) in the swimming-pool, their bodies covered with bubbles, and Moaning Myrtle is peeping from behind a pillar.

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Rosy Posy: it took me the whole summer to write the fic. I'm glad you liked the Moon Run so much!

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2Coolio: there'll be a twist at the end! Several twists before the end, I promise you!

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Julietta: I'm sure the Lord of the Rings movie must be cool – though I didn't like the books. Way too long and boring (but I'm going to watch the film, of course!) Yeah, the Moon Run was really a dream. I remember that I dreamt about Harry racing on a broomstick among the planets, and as he almost fell off his broom, I woke up! About the importance of Ginny's eye colour… it's not so damned important, but it will be something interesting. The connection between Harry's scar and the name Lightning was intentional. Oh my! Your dream sounds cool! Once I dreamed about people on snowboard in the Tatooine desert (from Star Wars). Snowboards in the desert! Interesting, huh? Yes, Stonehenge is a place with ancient columns, but they aren't Roman – they are prehistoric, from the IV-II. millenium B.C. If you give me your email-address, I'll write you a list of fics I recommend you to read, okay?

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HP Blonde Crazy Chick: as I have told to _K-K,_ I might insert my silly dream about Voldie's shower into the sequel (that I started to write on Tuesday – though I won't start posting it until it's totally ready, which will take several months). 

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D2: 5 more chapters together with this one.

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Mage: you are a clever girl!

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sharliestar: close.

All right, it might not be nice of me to post this chapter before Christmas, and this chapter might be the one that you'll like the least, but… just read and review! (There might be things you won't understand, but they'll be cleared up in the next chapter.)

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Chapter 30

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The sacrifice

It was half past three in the morning (28 minutes before sunrise), when Harry, Ron and Hermione apparated at Stonehenge.

An unexpected view greeted them: about forty death-eaters (including those who had been set free from Azkaban by Voldemort two years earlier), were standing in a circle, within the circle made from huge stones by ancient wizards. In the middle stood a cauldron – the same one the Dark Lord had used to regain his body after the third task of the Tri-Wizard Tournament. It had some translucent liquid in it, looking like water. 

Voldemort himself was standing next to the cauldron, a satisfied smile on his snake-like face.

In the background there was a small, thin death-eater, keeping a red-haired girl in check with a wand. The girl was holding some kind of a bundle.

As the three youngsters appeared, the redheaded girl let out a squeal.

"POTTER!" Voldemort cried, raising his wand, then suddenly lowering it. He had learnt from their latest confrontation, and didn't want _Priori Incantatem_ happen again.

He motioned his death-eaters to act, instead.

Forty wands raised against three – an exchange of curses followed, and the newcomers fell on the grass: Ron and Hermione stupefied, Harry bound by magically conjured ropes.

"I don't remember having sent you invitation cards, kids." the Dark Lord cackled, his followers also burst out laughing. "But if you are already here, be my guests to my 'becoming-immortal-party'. You will witness the rise of a new world – a world ruled by me, and the fall of the world of Albus Dumbledore and his Muggle-loving friends." he turned to the small wizard who was taking care of Ginny and the small bundle - Lily. "Wormtail, take their wands. I don't want them to have any chance to ruin the best moments of my life."

Wormtail complied, now holding his wand at the right, metallic hand – the three others in his left one.

"Good. Very good." Voldemort nodded. "Before you die, you will see me becoming immortal, Harry… with the help of your sweet little daughter… eventually with _your _help – it depends on your point of view. You sired her, after all…"

"What do you want to do with her?" Harry froze, feeling his stomach contract.

"What?" the Dark Lord's mouth tucked into a smirk. "Just take a few droplets of her blood."

"Like you did with me?" Harry asked.

"Not exactly…" Voldemort seemed to be enjoying the boy's despair.

"What then?" 

"What? Well… I'll spill some droplets of her blood into this cauldron, making the _Potion of Eternity _ready… oh, almost forgot… she won't be still alive when I'll do so."

"No!" Ginny yelled, hugging her baby closer to herself.

"It's not by request, my dear." Voldemort gave her a ferocious grin.

"You are a coward, Voldemort!" Harry spat, pulling himself up to his knees. "Pathetic! You shed an innocent infant's blood to get what you want! Why don't you have a try with someone who has equal powers?"

"Like YOU?" Voldemort bent down to cup Harry's chin. "I'm no fool, Potty… last time we fought, our wands started malfunctioning. I won't let it happen again… anyway, just to reassure you: I'm not too glad myself that I have to kill the baby first, but the recipe says that the last ingredient has to be the blood of my greatest enemy's dead child… Of course you are my greatest enemy Potter, because you, _only you_ could have been my undoing…" he saw Harry's eyes glint with surprise. "Oh, yes… has Dumbledore never told you why I always wanted to kill you? No, I don't think he was brave enough to tell you… I think you deserve to know it before you die." he bent down to the boy, his stare diving into that of Harry – malicious red eyes meeting hateful green ones. "There was a prediction – a prediction made by Cassandra… ever heard about her? She was the daughter of Priamos, king of Troy. Of course she was a witch… she was the one who had foretold the Trojan War. Shame that people never believed in her prophecies… You are surely interested in her prediction, aren't you, Harry?" Voldemort bent down again, his ruby eyes glinting balefully. "Cassandra happened to see many things from the future, and not only the events of the Muggle world, but those of the wizarding history as well… Did you know that she foretold the rise and fall of King Arthur because of his son's, Mordred's betrayal, and Merlin's incompetent acting? Did you know that she foretold the rise and fall of Grindelwald? No, I'm sure that you didn't know that…" his voice trailed off, a look of contemplation fell over his face. "All of Cassandra's predictions have come true – _so far_… She wrote a prediction about you and me… it was translated into English by Mim, the powerful antagonist of Merlin…" Voldemort turned to the death-eaters. "Avery, my cultured friend, would you be so kind and tell us the prophecy in Mim's translation?"

The death-eater nodded slightly. "As you wish, My Lord. The prophecy is the following:

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Thirty centuries will pass,

Till great changes come to Earth,

The era devoid of mirth,

Days to murder and harass

A man with the eyes of snake

Grows to rule the universe,

What's wrong, changes to the worse,

Leaving despair in its wake

Twenty years before the turn,

On the seventh months' last day,

Comes a shining little ray

That will start to glow and burn

A boy with the hair of soot

Born in the far land of haze,

Father stag and mother blaze,

Becomes light to show the route

Little flame though it might be,

Illuminates all the dark,

Wipes out the serpent mark,

Setting the shackled world free."

As Avery finished the recitation of the prediction, Voldemort turned back to Harry. "Cassandra… A great seer she was… She wrote this mysterious prediction telling that only Harry Potter could bring about my destruction… Oh, you might find it difficult to interpret the text, so I'll help you. The 'man with the eyes of snake' is me – who else? The 'turn' means the turn of century, so 'twenty years before the turn' refers to the year 1980. The 'hair of soot' refers to your black hair, the 'land of haze' is England. 'Mother blaze' means that Lily Potter had fiery red hair… well, there's only one part that I never managed to understand: 'father stag'. But never mind, I presume Cassandra referred to James Potter. So, as you also heard, young Potter, you, and only you can 'wipe out the serpent mark', which is my symbol… and that is exactly why I'm going to kill your child first – after I've become immortal, you cannot harm me anymore. I'm really sorry…" he looked everything but sorry. "I can't help, boy, I have to follow the instructions… that's why your little lover is here, too." he pointed at the slightly sobbing Ginny.

"What do you mean?" Harry felt all the blood running out of his face, eternal hate building in him, threatening to burst out with a loud explosion.

"According to the recipe of the _Potion of Eternity_, the child's mother has to witness her baby's death, otherwise the potion will not work. I'm really sorry to murder the baby before doing away with you, but be patient, boy, you'll be the next to die. Soon the whole Potter family will be rejoined in heaven – imagine how happy your parents will be to have you and such a cute little granddaughter…" Voldemort turned to a banshee-looking witch, in whom Harry recognised the woman who had been sentenced for life in Azkaban together with Barty Crouch Jr. and two other death-eaters. The woman had aged a lot since he saw her in Dumbledore's Pensieve.

"Morticia!" the Dark Lord rumbled, "Take the child and bring her to me."

The woman stepped to Ginny.

"Nooo!" the young mother clutched her baby, not wanting to release her. Finally the death-eater witch managed to tear Lily out of her arms. Ginny was about to lunge at the woman, but Wormtail pointed his wand directly at her heart. "Back, you bitch!" he hissed.

"And now…" Voldemort turned back to Harry and the slowly reviving Ron and Hermione. "…you are going to see me submerge into the _Potion of Eternity_, the recipe of which Severus Snape had so kindly presented to me."

"_Snape???"_ the three friends gasped.

"Oh, yes… Snape…" Voldemort grinned, motioning one of the hooded people to reveal his face.

It was none other than Professor Snape, Potions teacher at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. He was smiling smugly, crossing his arms before his chest.

"You… you… low-down, vile turncoat!" Harry burst out, jumping to his feet – which was quite remarkable in his bound state. "Dumbledore trusted you, but you betrayed him for the second time as well! You are disgusting!"

"Disgusting?" Snape sneered. "How flattering… just to assure you, Potter, I've always been sick of you, either… you had no idea how happy I felt when Malfoy got rid of you."

"Malfoy… yeah, who else?" Harry sighed.

"Oh, yeah…" Snape started to circle around Harry. "…the witty Draco made a potion that wiped your pathetic little mind, made you unspottable for the owls, and as a side-effect… vanished that ugly scar of yours. It didn't really disappear, only became invisible. I saw a picture of you in a Muggle paper – you looked better without it."

Harry had just realised that he really didn't have his scar while he was amnesiac. Instinctively he reached out to tap his forehead – well, would have reached out, had his arms not been bound. Snape, however, noticed his small move.

"Oh, don't worry, you got it back… not that it's something one would be proud of…" he came so close that Harry feel the warmth of Snape's breath on his nape. "You have no idea, though, how much your disappearance influenced your friends… and enemies. Lucius Malfoy was taken to St. Mungo, after he refused to reveal that his son was the culprit… ehm… the Dark Lord doesn't like death-eaters who have secrets before him."

Voldemort nodded, and Snape carried on. "You caused a turmoil at Hogwarts, too… at Christmas, your cousin put in an appearance."

"Dudley?" Harry gaped. "At Hogwarts?"

"Yes… that goon! He wanted to visit Millicent Bulstrode, but he made a blunder… gave away that Malfoy had given him the _Teih-Nessegrev Potion_, which he spilled into your drink."

Harry's mind reeled, trying to remember… yes, Dudley really had given him a glass of water before he lost his memories.

Voldemort continued where Snape left off: "Crabbe and Goyle revealed Malfoy's little deed to me. Severus also knew about it, but at that time he was so occupied bullying the students at the Defense Against the Dark Arts classes, that he _forgot_ to give me this information…" the Dark Lord cast a side-glance at Snape, whose eyes narrowed. "He paid dear for that, didn't you, Severus?"

"I well deserved the punishment, My Lord." Snape bowed.

Voldemort grinned. "Don't worry, Harry, I didn't punish your _favourite _teacher too much… he was the one who had given me the recipe, after all… and now, let's see to that potion! Sunrise is very close." he turned to the woman, holding the baby. "Morticia…" she was about to hand him Lily, when Harry lunged at him, grabbing his throat in a vice-like grip. How he had got rid of his bounds, he didn't know - all he knew was that he wanted to throttle that diabolic creature.

He couldn't harm Voldemort, though – he was pulled back by two death-eaters. He struggled to break free while the Dark Lord pointed his wand at Harry's heart, yelling '_Avada Kedavra_!'

Before the green stream of death could reach Harry, a red-haired form jumped between him and Voldemort. Everything happened so fast, that Harry couldn't really make it out – all he saw was that the redheaded form got hit by the green light, that rebound and fell back on its originator who burst into molecules with an ear-splitting detonation – his body dissolving into a red column of fire, rocketing into the skies… right when the first ray of sun appeared on the horizon.

"GINNY!" Harry howled, dropping to his knees, gathering the motionless girl into his arms. "Ginny… why… why did you do that?" he breathed, waiting for a reply that never came.

"Harry! Watch out!" Ron yelled, as a blue stream approached Harry from the wand of Macnair. He rolled onto his side, jumping behind a huge stone of the ancient building. Without his wand, he was helpless and defenceless. He needed to get it back!

The death-eaters, frightened and enraged by the destruction of their master, started to approach the three youngsters, wands held at the ready to kill.

The three of them had no chance to survive the attack of forty.

The death-eaters were about to yell _Avada Kedavra_ in chorus, when they got attacked from behind.

"Professor Dumbledore!" Hermione yelped.

Dumbledore was not alone: Sirius, Lupin and Bill Weasley were with him.

Hermione yelled '_Accio Lily!'_, and the baby flew into her arms from Morticia's hands.

In the blink of an eye panic broke out. The death-eaters turned to the four, newly arrived wizards, sending unforgivable – and other – curses at them. 

Dumbledore, who managed to analyse the situation in a second, flicked his wand, making the three youngster's wands fly out of the appalled Wormtail's hand, back into the hands of their owners. With another flick, Dumbledore stupefied five death-eaters. Not for nothing was he called the greatest wizard of the century, after all… 

In a second an enormous multilateral duel developed between Voldemort's followers and the seven wizards: Dumbledore, Lupin, Sirius and Bill on the one side; Harry, Ron and Hermione on the other; the death-eaters in the middle – trapped.

For some seconds you could hear nothing but _Avada Kedavra_s, _Crucio_s, and _Stupefy_s – due to which the half of the death eaters fell unconsciously to the ground, Lupin got scorched by a fire-spitting spell, and Bill got scalped by Nott's instant scalp curse.

"Hey! My hair!" he yelled indignantly, knocking out three death-eaters with one swish of his wand, and even managed to explode the cauldron with the almost-ready potion that spilled all over the ground, making daisies and grass wither in its wake.

Though it wasn't conspicuous at first, the evils started to get sparser from the very middle of their circle, too, as if someone had been attacking them from inside. 

As the death-eaters numbers dropped to twenty, the rogue in the middle became visible: it was Snape, sending curses at the nearest dark-siders.

As Sirius got a glimpse of him – the archenemy, dressed in the cloak of a death-eater, his mind got clouded with rage.

"You traitor!" he bellowed, out of his mind. "_Avada Kedavra_!"

"NO!" Harry cried, instinctively ejecting a silver streak of light from his wand to cross the path of Sirius' green-coloured killing curse. Before the deadly stream could hit the Potions professor, Harry's silver one reached it, making it explode only half metre from Snape's body. "He's on our side, Sirius!" Harry yelled, averting a _Crucio_ from Morticia's wand. He had seen what Sirius didn't: Snape killing and stupefying their enemies – and he had also realised that it was Snape who had loosened his bounds, unnoticed by Voldemort.

While Lupin shot a jelly-leg-jinx at Crabbe, Ron tried his slug-belching hex on a fat death-eater – this time with success.

Within four minutes, the ancient ruins were littered with dead, stupefied, bound and badly injured bodies – the huge stones of Stonehenge scattered, the whole building tumbled down.

Hermione's nose was bleeding, Ron had a sprained ankle, Dumbledore's beard was snipped off, Harry's glasses broke, and Snape was still shocked by the fact that the oh-so-hated Harry Potter had saved his life.

Apart from these, they were all right.

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They were all right, but Ginny…

Harry ran back to the girl, taking her body into his arms, as though hoping that she'd wake up.

Ron stumbled to them, his face red with fury and tears. Hermione glanced at Dumbledore, who cast his eyes down – as if he had felt responsible for Ginny's death.

"I'll take her home." Bill offered with a crestfallen expression, stretching out his strong arms.

"No… I'll bring her." Harry said firmly, picking up Ginny's stock-still body from the ground with lips tightly pressed together. His eyes were inexpressive, cold, not the usual shiny-emerald, but rather icy-grey. Hermione had never seen him like that before: he didn't look sad – he looked scary – as if there had been no spark of life in him anymore. As though he had been an empty shell, not a living being.

Hermione fought back her tears and reached behind a stone, where she'd hidden Lily and lifted the crying baby into her arms. "Shhh… it's okay… it's okay…" she rocked her, but Lily didn't stop crying… as if she had known that she no more had a mother.

"Harry, Ron, Hermione, Bill… go back to the Burrow." Dumbledore said. "Remus, Sirius, Severus and me will take care of this lot here." he pointed at the heap of disarmed death-eaters.

"Professor Dumbledore?" Hermione spoke up.

"Yes?"

"Professor Snape…" she hesitated, not daring to carry on.

"He is on our side, Hermione." Albus replied. "He infiltrated into the group of Voldemort's followers, but he is on the good side. Even Harry noticed it, didn't you, Harry?"

Harry nodded bluntly. His glance met that of Snape, who diverted his eyes, as though he had been burnt by the stare of the boy who was holding his dead lover in his arms.

"Let's go, guys." Bill whispered.

Harry nodded – not really grasping what was happening around him. "Let's go."

As the little group disapparated, Dumbledore turned to his fellow-wizards. "Now, let's take these bad lots to Azkaban. They'll be in good hands there."

Lupin and Snape nodded.

Albus turned to Sirius: "Will you please tidy up this place?"

After the others departed, Black raised his wand, pointing at the huge stones on the ground. "_Reparo_!"

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A/N2: so this was my Christmas present to you: I rid the wizarding world of Voldemort.

*author hides behind a sofa, waiting for you to throw curses at her.* Feel free to flame – flames might come in handy, it's really cold here in Hungary.

Anyway, you might be wondering why I didn't include the dementors in Voldemort's ranks. I had been playing with the idea, but then decided against it. Things were confused enough without having to deal with dementors, too. 

You also might find it ridiculous that 7 wizards could deal with 40 death-eaters, but remember: this is just a fantasy story, and in such stories anything could happen, especially with Dumbledore around. (E.g. Leia, Lando and Chewbacca kill at least 50 storm troopers in The Empire Strikes Back) 


	31. Questions answered

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A/N: Hi, everyone, here is my late Christmas present to you!

I hope you all had a magical Christmas – I got lots of HP stuff from family and friends: three HP folders, six boxes of Bertie Bott's Every Flavoured Beans, an HP notebook and a little Hedwig made of some white stone. Really sweet.

Yesterday I saw David Copperfield on TV and Daniel Radcliffe was such a cutie in there! (he was about 9 years old and quite pudgy, LOL). Maggie Smith (McGonagall) and Zoe Wannamaker (Madame Hooch) also had a role in that film. It's funny that three actors of the HP movie had played together in another film earlier.

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To your reviews: oh my! I thought I'd get less reviews for this chapter than the average 70-80, but I was wrong! You totally surprised me – in a good way! Thanks a bunch!

I have to tell you, people, that I'm an evil girl, because I actually enjoyed seeing you suffer! *bad Agi, very bad Agi!* I should be banging my head into the window-pane, like Dobby!

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Thchick, vanilla and _Mikey:_ no, of course chapter 30 wasn't the end – as you can see it, here's the next instalment!

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Ariana Black: so, Snape had you fooled? Glad to hear that! Yes, it was what Dumbledore had been planning – in this chapter he'll explain everything in person :-)

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veronik: but Voldie IS DEAD! I don't know why you thought he only disappeared. He died and won't come back!

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English Rose: no, I won't use The Book of the Dead (though I loved that scene in the Mummy returns where they brought back Evelin – was Evelin her name? I'm not sure…)

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jennaration: Ron and Herm WERE stupefied, but they woke up – I quote: "_And now…" Voldemort turned back to Harry and the **slowly reviving** Ron and Hermione. "…you are going to see me submerge into the Potion of Eternity, the recipe of which Severus Snape had so kindly presented to me." _See, they woke up. About Herm's wand – you are totally right! I made a mistake there. That happened because I re-wrote some things in the scene where Dumbledore and the others appear, just a couple of minutes before uploading the chapter, and I didn't realise that I mixed up the time a bit. Hermione got her wand back a couple of seconds later. Mea culpa. The new Hungarian lesson for you: "_Mindenki boldogan él amíg meg nem hal, és január 22-én, Jenna szülinapján fogom felrakni az utolsó fejezetet_." There. (though I guess I'll upload the last chapter a bit earlier.)

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Tayla Riddle: you dreamt it????

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Pyro Spam: yes, you'll see Draco again, since I truly like his character.

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Princesswitch: of course I know everything about fairy tales. You'll witness it yourself, I promise! Btw, what is "ttyl"? And what is "jk" – not J.K. Rowling, is it?

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just me: oh, so you are sorry for Voldemort! LOL!

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Myr Halcyon: I get what you mean, and totally agree. IMHO Voldemort never feels right :-)

r_avenclawmeg_: you wrote: "that is just an awful way to end it." Hm, who said it was the end??? I don't remember myself putting "THE END" or "FIN" at the end of chapter 30.

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Basilisk: another one who is sorry for Voldie! You made me laugh, really!

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K-K: made you cry? Strange… I never thought I could write anything that could make people cry… not even my mom cried when she read it, which is quite remarkable, since she always cries at everything that is a bit sad or sentimental.

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mountainblossom: good guess. You wrote: "you should seriously consider sending it to J.K. Rowling… maybe you'll inspire her…" – that's sweet, but I don't think SHE needs inspiring!

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Bluebubblegrl: *Agi wipes the rotten fruit off herself* - you can keep bawling like a baby for about two weeks, then…

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AlanSmithy: thankyouthankyouthankyou, Mitch!

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D2: about your question concerning Snape and the recipe… this chapter will give you the answer (like it says in the title).

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Ki-chan: oh, what a relief! I was afraid that people might think the fight scene sucked. I had serious misgivings about the last chapter, because I'm really not an action-writer – I'm much better at comedies. Glad to hear the action worked out after all :-)

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star queen: I promise I'll watch Fellowship of the Ring as soon as it comes out in Hungary (only on 10th January). Anyway, I started to read the first LotR book again, just to know what I'll see… I read the three books two years ago, but I really didn't remember a thing… yeah, only one thing: I LOVED Sammie's character! (is he called Sammie? In Hungarian we got his name translated into the Hungarian version of Sam, so I don't know his original name.) About my exams: I had two up till now, the worst is yet to come… *sigh* Imagine, I had to study on the 24th and 25th December, too! At Christmas!!!

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IloveLinkinPark222: no, I haven't read your fic that has the title "The sacrifice". I don't know whether I have read a story from you or not, since I was asked by so many people to read their fics that I simply don't know anymore which one I read and which one I didn't. But I'm sure I don't remember a fic with the title "The sacrifice." – though it sounds good, I'll read it as soon as I can.

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Lady Lupin: things will work out. Have faith!

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Hobbit-Feet: oh, another SW fan! Great! A wedding? *grins*

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Lionheart Eternal: exactly.

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HarryPotterCC1: feel free to send me a howler – once I sent one to my mom, just for fun! I wanted to send her the one screaming "you are as ugly as a troll!", but I clicked on another one by mistake!

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kirky1: why? Because he was too shocked… he didn't even remember of it! But in this chapter… you'll see…

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Hermione Gulliver: I'll do a sequel, but NOT about Lily growing up. In the sequel she'll only be one year old.

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obi_ewan_maul_lover: glad that you liked the prophecy. I like making up things like that. 

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Toby Haine: did you get my instructions about uploading? I wasn't sure because you didn't answer me… oh well, I really liked – no – LOVED your review! I've never got one this long! You really made me laugh by writing: "I'm going to find the person whom I said their story is the best and tell them sorry but this is much better!" – LOL, that was really sweet! Would you be so kind and tell me whose story that was? If it's so good, I'd like to read it! So, you liked the memory loss twist? I'm happy to hear that – I was a bit afraid that people might think it made a story be like a silly Mexican soap-opera, but fortunately it didn't. Turned you into a Lockhart fan? Super! Rowling is your idol? Mine, too!!!!! You wrote that she always wrapped things up at the end. I dedicated this chapter to "wrapping up" things, I hope I succeeded, and everything will be clear. It might be a bit twisted, but hopefully everyone will understand. Thanks for saying that the battle scene was well written – I feared it might come out stupid. Yea, thinking up chapter names was real fun… my fave chapter title is "Noisy night, holy night". Yes, I also think that with no Voldemort, there's not much point in HP stories, but I hope I'll manage to find or make up another villain for the sequel – but I won't bring back Voldie, I had enough of him!

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PrincezzShortie: no, your review was only the second or third longest I had ever got, but I truly appreciated it – I love getting long reviews! (my longest review was written by _Toby_ right above you). I really hate killing characters – Ginny is dead, though. (but remember: I promised my readers a happy end, and the story isn't over yet). I'd gladly share my original story with you, but unfortunately it is written in Hungarian, and I don't feel like translating it into English. 

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Twink: I promise you lots of description (but even more funny dialogues). No, Lily cannot be flower girl, she's only three weeks old now!

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gurlie409: you'll see Sunny again.

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LisaQT3: I also like mythology, especially that of the ancient Greeks. You wrote you didn't know what to read when this story ended. Well… the sequel! (though it won't be ready until late spring, I guess. If you want, I'll write you a list of interesting stories I recommend you read, okay?)

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thebiggesthpfan: thank you for your sincerity, I truly appreciated it.

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erica: no fake curse and no disappointing you. Just read on!

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yibble legnets: does Gandalf really die in the movie? Oh my! I have read the books, but a long time ago, and I thought he lived until the end of book three. Well, I was wrong then :-( So, was Frodo so good? I can't wait to see it!

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2Coolio: what do you mean by making a "prologue"? Didn't you mean "epilogue"? Anyway, four more chapters until the real epilogue!

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Harry II: the best? Really?

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haanah: 4 chapters together with this one. And please, refrain from casting Avada Kedavra on me, or else I won't be able to upload the rest of the story!

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Chicory Tee: thicker than Crabbe and Goyle? LOL! Thanks, I feel warmer now! :-)

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X Tow Naga: sorry, I didn't get a scanner for Xmas, so you won't be able to see the pic ;-)

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Afromonk: it was obvious for you, but it wasn't obvious for many people, that's why they panicked about Ginny's death.

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Waldomier: Morticia is Gomez Addams' wife in Addams Family. I just thought she totally looked like the witch who was described in the Pensieve.

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Jared and _Ze Vondor_: thanks a lot!

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Jeanine DR23: you misunderstood me! I didn't mean the island in America – I meant the Dominican Republic next to Cuba! I told you I WAS good at geography! You couldn't practically mention a country that I don't know where it is! I know most of the small island-states in the Pacific Ocean, too (without a map). I used to spend lots of time studying maps when I was younger because I found them fascinating. Strange, huh? People think I'm off my rocker when I open my school-books during the summer holidays as well. (Well, maybe this is why the "Harry Potter personality test" told me I was a lot like Hermione, lol)

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Meatball Head: I also like eggnog, but especially coconut and peach liqueur :-)

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Anna: I most definitely had nice holidays, though I needed to study all along *pout* - I'm going to have my next exam on 27th December, so I HAD to study. Anyway, we celebrate Christmas. 

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serenity: no, the Snitch is worth only 150 points, not 180.

Oh my! My replies to your reviews got almost as long as the next chapter!

I feel I need to **warn you that this chapter needs great attention**! For me it was the most difficult chapter to write (I re-wrote it at least 20 times), because it was so complicated. If you read it carefully, you'll surely understand everything – I tried by best to make this chapter perfect with the help of my wonderful mom who noticed smaller mistakes and made suggestions how to correct them. They are corrected now, and hopefully it won't be hard to understand. 

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Chapter 31

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Questions answered

While wizards and witches throughout the globe were celebrating, showering the skies with fireworks, sending express owls, falcons and all kinds of birds to let each other know about the Dark Lord's final defeat, the Burrow was as silent as a grave.

Deep, deadly silence hung in the air, heavy with muffled sobs and sighs. The Weasley family was mourning Ginny, whose corpse was lying on a bier, surrounded by flowers and hovering candles that made her fiery hair shine in an eerie glow, as if a halo had encircled her head.

Molly was soundlessly crying, bending her head on her husband's shoulder. Arthur's grief was deeper – he couldn't shed a tear. Bill and Charlie tried to comfort Percy, who kept repeating that he and their little sister had been on bad terms before she died. He simply couldn't forgive himself for not having reconciled with Ginny while it was possible.

Fleur was standing in the background, holding Lily, trying to make herself useful, but her grief was almost as great as that of the dead girl's parents and brothers – she and Ginny had become very close friends. 

Not even the twins could think of anything to cheer the family up a bit. There was nothing to be cheery about.

Ron was inconsolable, but didn't cry – neither did Hermione. They had been there at Stonehenge, seen Ginny's sacrifice and understood it better than the rest of the family.

"It's… it's time to go to sleep." Arthur whispered. "Come, Molly."

"No…" the woman sniffed, "I want to sit up for her… like Harry does." she pointed at the boy, kneeling beside the bier with a stony face that didn't show any kind of emotion. He still couldn't grasp what had happened: Voldemort was dead… so was his one and only love.

It was too much for him to comprehend.

He was kneeling there until dawn, having lost track of time.

"Harry." he suddenly felt a hand on his shoulder. "I've come to explain everything."

The boy turned around to see Albus Dumbledore.

"Explain? What?" he rose to his feet. "There's nothing to be explained… Ginny's dead."

The old wizard shook his silvery head. "You're mistaken. There's lot to be explained. Come… the family is waiting."

Dumbledore led him into the living room, where all the Weasley, plus Hermione, Sirius and Lupin were present.

"Sit down." the ex-headmaster said very softly.

"I'd rather stand." Harry replied, taking a look round, examining the expressions of the gathered people. Grief and anticipation mingled on their pale faces.

"I've asked you all to give me a chance to clear everything up. You might think that it isn't the proper time for explanations, but I do feel that you deserve to know why things happened the way they did." Dumbledore began. "Everything started with Voldemort getting to know about Cassandra's prediction and understanding the meaning of those mysterious lines. He understood that Harry was destined to be his undoing. That is why Voldemort wanted to kill Harry from the moment of his birth. After he had done away with James, he shouted _Avada Kedavra_ at little Harry. However, he left it out of consideration that Lily could sacrifice herself in order to save her son, this way decreasing the effect of the killing curse. Not only did Harry survive with nothing but a lightning-shaped scar, but Voldemort's curse fell back on its originator, making him lose his powers and body. As you all know, he didn't die. He knew that Harry started Hogwarts at the age of eleven, so he possessed Quirrel's body to have an opportunity to kill Harry and get the Philosopher's Stone. Harry, however, thwarted him. Quirrel, on the command of Voldemort, tried to kill Harry. The Dark Lord didn't know that the green lightning of the _Avada Kedavra_ had made Harry similar to a lightning, that is to say, the originator of the curse could not touch him. Quirrel was burnt by the pure touch of Harry's skin, as though a real lightning had burnt him." Dumbledore looked around – everyone was listening with bated breath. "After the destruction of the Philosopher's Stone," he carried on, "my friend, Nicolas Flamel invited me to spend the summer holiday at his place. He told me about the journeys he had made in his youth and let me in on secrets that he, and only he in the whole wizarding world knew about.

Once he had met an extremely old warlock, living on an island that was completely separated from the rest of the world. They became friends and the old warlock told Nicolas about two unique recipes, which no one else knew about. One of them is the recipe that gives the body back to a wizard who has lost it, and the other is the recipe of immortality." Dumbledore took a deep breath and continued. "Nicolas never told anyone about these two recipes, not even his wife. No one knew that Voldemort somehow got to know about the first recipe… When Harry came back by portkey after the third task, his first words were: "_He's back. Voldemort_." I immediately knew that the Dark Lord must have got to know about the recipe that gives one back the body they had lost… Later on, Harry mentioned that Voldemort used his blood for his resurrection, and he was able to touch Harry thereafter. The only way he could touch the boy without getting burned was through Harry's blood…" Albus heard Sirius cough nervously. He carried on. "When Harry told me that Voldemort wanted to kill him, I knew at once that the Dark Lord didn't know about the second recipe, according to which only those can gain immortality, who have their enemy's blood flowing in their veins… And only one way: if they prepare the _Potion of Eternity_ using the blood of the same enemy's direct line descendant…

Voldemort believed in Cassandra's prediction and expected Harry to attack and murder him… but he was on the wrong track. Harry really became his undoing… but only indirectly." he glanced around, his stare stopping on the Weasley couple. "It was Ginny who caused his death, when sacrificing herself to save Harry."

Molly burst into tears again.

"Your daughter, Molly, died a heroine… and will be revered by the whole wizarding society until the end of times." Albus carried on with a soothing voice. "Her sacrifice changes the history… it had to change it. I had always known it would."

"_You knew it_?" Harry looked up from the floor that he had been examining for minutes. "_You knew that she would die_?"

Albus saw the outrage on the boy's face, but only nodded. "Partially."

"Partially? Explain!" Harry growled with clenched fists.

All the others' faces mirrored his expression of anger and confusion.

"Yes, I did know it… not that it would be Ginny… All I knew was that a woman, deeply in love with Harry would save him from Voldemort at the expense of her own life…" he fell silent for a minute, then continued. "At first I expected it to happen only decades later… I never though it would come true this soon – I never thought you'd have a child this soon…" before Harry could ask what his child had to do with all this, Dumbledore continued. "I also have to admit that I expected Ms. Chang to be the saviour, since I knew how much Harry fancied her. But when I saw that she didn't reciprocate his feelings, I got aware that someone else would be the girl who would... When I got to know that Ginny was pregnant with Harry's baby… well, I knew it had to be her."

"And you kept it a secret?" Sirius cut in.

"I had to." the old wizard replied. "No one but me and Professor Snape knew about it."

"Snape?" Hermione glowered at him. "How did he become involved in all this?"

"Severus… well… the night Voldemort got his powers back," he turned to look at Harry, "…the night of the third task, I sent Severus to accomplish a secret mission. No one knew that I sent him to Voldemort, to give the recipe of the _Potion of Eternity_ to the Dark Lord."

"What? YOU gave out that recipe? Deliberately?" Ron gasped, along with the others.

"Severus had to ingratiate himself with Voldemort again." Dumbledore replied. "He had once been a death-eater who lost the Dark Lord's trust after he sided with me. However, he needed to get close to Voldemort once again, and what else could have conciliated Voldemort better, than a former servant of his giving him the recipe he desired the most?"

"Why on earth did you send him that recipe?" Hermione pushed. "And why not send him a fake-one?"

Dumbledore replied the second question: "It WAS a fake one, Ms. Granger. As for your first question, I sent it to him because of the _last ingredient_."

No one seemed to understand him.

"The last ingredient was the life of Harry's child." Albus explained. "In order to perform the immortality-ceremony properly, the mother had to be there, too… I knew if Harry had a child, and Voldermort had the recipe, he would kidnap both the child and the mother, to do everything properly."

The listeners still didn't understand a word, so the old wizard kept talking: "I knew that only a woman's love for Harry could destroy the Dark Lord. Voldemort didn't know it… Cassandra's prophecy had originally seven verses… while Voldemort knew only about the first five. Merlin, who had been in possession of the whole prediction, erased its last two verses before Mim could steal it from him. This way the evil witch translated an incomplete prophecy." 

"What was in the last the verses, professor?" Hermione asked.

"I just wanted to get down to it." Dumbledore replied. "So, the remaining two verses… they tell us about a girl who, deeply in love with the 'boy with the hair of soot', will cause the downfall of the Dark Lord by sacrificing herself for the boy… Voldemort had no idea that the prediction he knew was incomplete, thus he had always believed Harry to be his undoing… And now back to the baby…" Albus paused for a second. "I was aware that Voldemort would never capture a woman without having Harry's child – so the woman needed to have Harry's child to give Voldemort a good reason to kidnap her. By sending Voldemort the recipe with Severus, I gave him a reason not to kill Harry until he hadn't fathered a child. This way I managed to protect Harry for a while… I really didn't expect you to become a father this soon." he looked at the boy, who suddenly understood why Dumbledore hadn't punished him back in November… Harry still remembered what Dumbledore had looked: not angry, not scolding… but almost elated. Back then Harry didn't understand the headmaster's strange behaviour, but now he did: Dumbledore was actually happy about the arrival of the child, because he knew what it meant: that Voldemort's defeat was close… or at least its possibility.

"Does that mean," Hermione interrupted, "that you gave out the recipe to You-Know-Who, so that he'd capture Harry's sometime child and its mother, this way giving the child's mother a chance to sacrifice herself for Harry, causing You-Know-Who's death?"

"Brilliant comprehension, Ms. Granger." Albus nodded.

"Geez… that's confusing." Fred voiced his opinion.

"And how!" George nodded sullenly.

"But professor…" Hermione continued, "What about Harry? He also needed to be there, didn't he? What if he hadn't been at Stonehenge yesterday dawn?"

Dumbledore furrowed his brow. "You have touched the most delicate point… I knew that if the child's mother was kidnapped, Harry would go after her. This is why I was so scared when Harry disappeared without leaving trace. I left this chance out of consideration…" 

"What?" Sirius burst out. "Are you aware that Voldemort would have killed Harry's daughter and would have gained immortality if Harry hadn't arrived at Stonehenge in time???"

Dumbledore shook his head. "No, Sirius. Voldemort couldn't have gained immortality, since I had made a small _change _to the recipe – a change concerning the last ingredient. In the real recipe the last ingredient was the blood of his enemy's _living _offspring. I re-wrote the recipe, so that it contained the blood of the enemy's _dead_ child. Had Voldemort used the recipe before we arrived at Stonehenge, the baby's death would have been my fault." Dumbledore hung his head. "Not to speak about the incredible wrath of Voldemort when he realised that the potion didn't work… he would have avenged himself on the whole wizarding world. You have no idea, how much the sheer though of this worried me. There were too many unsure factors… it wasn't even sure that Harry would ever have a child. Yes, I did risk a lot when I gave Severus the recipe to deliver it to Voldemort… but I had to risk that much."

"RISK – THAT – MUCH???" Arthur Weasley howled. "You dared to risk everything, putting all your eggs into one basket??? Holy heavens, Albus! You could have brought terror on the whole wizarding world!"

"I don't deny it." Dumbledore replied. "But I was aware that if Voldemort didn't use this recipe then he'd find another sooner or later… it was only a matter of time. Since giving him my recipe was the only way to rid the world of the Dark Lord, I thought it was worth a try."

"Worth a try?" Molly clenched her fists. "How did you dare to chance my… daughter's and granddaughter's life?" she burst into tears again, but deep in her heart she knew that the old wizard was right. The death of two persons was nothing compared to the death of millions.

"Molly…" Lupin stepped to her. "Albus did the right thing. I understand your grief, but be proud that your daughter – only your daughter – could destroy Voldemort. She died a heroine, and the whole wizarding world is extremely grateful to her."

"She wasn't your child." Molly replied accusingly, wiping her tears with her apron.

"No." Remus shook his head. "But I would have been proud to have a daughter like her."

"Mom…" Fred spoke up, "We all miss Ginny terribly, but don't forget that we still have Lily."

"Yes…" Molly tried to smile, glancing at the baby, who was peacefully sleeping in Fleur's arms. "Harry, son, you won't take her from us, will you?"

Harry turned to look at the baby. Since Ginny died, he hadn't even thought of his daughter… had never even seen her close up… hadn't held her, either.

He walked over to Fleur, taking the tiny being into his arms. The baby was so beautiful, so perfect… finally the long-withheld tears came flowing down his cheeks. This child was all he had left of Ginny – the fruit of their love. 

The baby stirred, opening her eyes – her emerald green eyes… _green_… so _green_…

"The torch!" Harry breathed.

"What?" Ron frowned, afraid that grief had driven his friend crazy.

"What date is today?" Harry asked.

"10th July." Hermione replied. "But why?"

"10th July… one day left… one day…" Harry muttered.

"One day? What are you talking about?" Sirius cut in.

"I can save Ginny!" Harry stated, handing Lily back to Fleur.

"Save her?" Percy gaped.

"Dead people can't be saved!" George pointed out.

"But they can!" Harry replied, his face not showing sadness anymore, only excitement and a great deal of hope.

"You can't change the past, Harry." Dumbledore admonished him.

"I don't intend to, professor." the boy answered. "But I can bring her back! I know I can!"

"How?" Molly sniffed.

"No time to explain now. I have to hurry! If I don't return within 24 hours, then you can bury her…" Harry cast a last glance at Ginny and with a pop, he disapparated.

The family stared at the place Harry had stood a second earlier.

"He's gone crazy." Sirius mumbled.

"We'll see." Dumbledore replied, knitting his snow-white eyebrows.

"Professor?" Hermione turned to him.

"Yes?"

"Professor… I fear I have a piece of the puzzle missing."

"Then go ahead and ask, Ms. Granger."

"Okay. So, how did you know that we were to be found at Stonehenge?"

Dumbledore smiled sadly. "According to the receipt, the ritual could only be performed there, at sunrise. As for the timing… back at Christmas I sent a watch on a chain to Ginny with the warning that she should never take it off. It was a watch connected to mine." he reached into his pocket, taking out his very special golden watch with the little planets moving around the edge. It had twelve hands. "I wrote Ginny that whenever she should get into trouble, she had to flick the lid of the watch open and push a small button hidden in it. When she got kidnapped, she did so. Since nothing else could happen to her, I knew at once _it_ had to happen… the only thing I feared… which I knew would come: Voldemort had kidnapped her and the baby. It took a bit of time to inform Remus, Sirius and Bill, since Remus was in Finland, Sirius and Bill in Egypt. Lucky that I knew where to look for them. This way we arrived at Stonehenge right at sunrise."

"Did you know that You-Know-Who would already be dead by the time you get there?" Ron asked.

"No. I was in the belief that Harry was still missing. I feared that by the time we'd get there, Voldemort would have killed Lily, which fortunately didn't happen..." his voice faltered as he turned to Molly and Arthur. "Forgive me for exposing your daughter to Voldemort…"

"Not your fault." Molly shook her head. "You did the right thing – you risked a lot, but your plan worked. It's no use wondering what could have happened if Harry hadn't arrived there in time… Only one thing counts: my Ginny was destined to cause You-Know-Who's death, and she fulfilled her destiny. We'll always be proud of her."

****

A/N2: see, I'm not that evil, really… you can start hoping again :-)


	32. The green flame torch

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A/N: HAPPY NEW YEAR to everyone!

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Waldomier: you wrote I made a mistake, because I wrote Philosopher's Stone instead of Sorcerer's Stone. Just to inform you, Philosoper's Stone is the original name for the Sorcerer's stone – Rowling used Philosopher's Stone in the original British edition. Since I'm trying to stick to British English, I wanted to use the original name for the stone. Anyway, Harry cannot bring back his parents, because he can only bring back one person.

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VeRyWiLdWiTcH: I'm glad I've given you a nice Christmas present!

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moonys*gal: why don't you think he'll get it? You're a pessimist! Yesterday I had an exam at managing and I had to write examples for positive thinking. Well, you wouldn't be a good example, LOL!

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Miss McIntyre: WHAT???? What makes you think Hungary is such a barbaric state? We are a democracy where human rights prevail! We don't even have death penalty, and no one gets his limbs cut off as a punishment! Have you mistaken Hungary for Afghanistan? Anyway, why would you like to see Draco in a pit with crocodiles? (just wondering)

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SilverFirexz: read my answer to _Verywildwitch!_ The same for you!

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Anigurl88: sorry, the fic has to end soon (but there'll be a sequel!). No, the last word won't be scar. I have something much funnier in store for you!

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mountainblossom: I never said Draco would show up in the pyramid! I only said you'd see him again. In the last chapter. The word you wrote as "imedietly" should be spelled as "immediately".

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Meatball Head: no, the sequel isn't about Lily. She is only 1-2 years old in that one. The story will be about Harry, Hermione, Ginny, the others and… some new villains, of course.

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PepsiAngel: you asked how I made up all that stuff. Well, it wasn't easy. I spent lots of summer nights without sleeping, thinking of the story-line, and then one night I got the idea of Snape bringing that recipe to Voldie on Dumbledore's order. I got so excited that I couldn't sleep at all that night!

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sharliestar: you wanted to write "intertwine" :-) No, I'm never tired of answering reviews – it's fun! After the long, hard days of studying dull school stuff I sit down to my PC and answer them – it helps me relax.

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Zenon Lee: I have actually forgotten about the Order of Merlin… and won't include it into the story, but you can imagine that they all got it! They deserve it, after all! About the sequel: it's in progress, though only three chapters are written, and I NEVER start to upload a story until it's totally ready, since I sometimes change things in the first chapter after having written the twentieth! 

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HP Blone Crazy Chick: write me your email-address and I'll write you how to upload your story on ffnet, okay?

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Princess Backstreet: no, Neville didn't dream about Lily. Yes, Malfoy will be in it again. Three more chapters together with this one.

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Super saya-jin gotan: you cannot kill one with the cruciatus curse, only with Avada Kedavra! (but a naked Trelawney would REALLY be terrible! :-)

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Ariana Black: how did I come up with that? Read my answer to _PepsiAngel_. Besides that I have to give credit to my mother, without whom last chapter wouldn't have been as perfect as it was. I wrote 80% of it and she made the final touch, "refining" it. She is truly wonderful :-)

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zzxm: what happened to Dudders and Milli? You'll see them again, be patient! Yeah, Ron really didn't have freckles in the movie, though I still found him bloody brilliant. The best actor of all.

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IloveLinkinPark222: yes.

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Ki-chan: thanks, I tried my best :-)

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Jane: what? Neon green? Holy heavens! What would she look like with eyes looking like lightsabers??? (because Luke's saber is neon green) Lily's eyes are just plain emerald green. So, you got a computer for Xmas? That's great!

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Sweet Princess Revenge: yeah, I think there can be "belated" Christmas. I remember when I was five, I got very ill right before Christmas and had to go to hospital. I was only released on 25th December (we in Hungary celebrate Christmas on 24th), and my family hadn't celebrated without me – they waited for me to come back from the hospital! Sweet, isn't it? So I guess there can be something like belated Christmas.

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thebiggesthpfan: it's Nicholas, not Nickholas. Where did you read that Nicholas died 4-5 days after the stone was destroyed? Not in HP and the Sorcerer's Stone, for sure. Where then? I haven't read anything like that! About Dumbledore: I think he's always acting a little weird! How can he be willing to let Ginny or Cho die for Harry? Easily: he looked at the greater good: the loss of one or two lives was nothing compared to the death of millions (and Voldemort would have killed lots of people, had he not been stopped by Ginny's death). No, Harry can't save his parents: he can bring back ONLY ONE person with the torch.

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teacherchez: bewitched me? Hmmmm… possible… :-)

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Aya-Chan: I loved your little maths lesson, lol. My SW stories aren't worth reading – at least not AFTER my HP story. They are quite silly, IMHO, I'm ashamed of having written such sappy fics. No plot at all. (but I just didn't feel like taking them off ffnet – lazy, I am.) Anyway, feel free to email me!

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jennyKT: yes, the bier look exactly like Snow White's :-) ((though Ginny won't be kissed to be revived – she'll be kissed afterwards))

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Tsar: so, you don't want Harry to go back to school? Sorry, but he has to! He missed most of the last school year! (though he might be exempted from certain subjects like DADA, for example)

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silverchocolate: complex imagination? Thanksssss (imagine a sound like the snake's in the zoo – just seen the movie in English! It's so much better than the Hungarian dubbed version!)

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Cloudzi: no, the sequel won't be about Lily (she'll still be a small episode-character), though trust me to cook up something interesting for you in the sequel!

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Mage: how did Voldie die? Well, as Dumbledore explained, a girl - deeply in love with Harry - had to sacrifice herself for him, and thus she'd bring about the destruction of the Dark Lord. (oh, and sorry for believing you were a girl! Really sorry!)

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Toby Haine: I'll check out that story, thanks.

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Chicory Tee: no, I don't play with Playstation. Never liked such stuff. Yes, I know the title of the fifth book, and can't wait for it! Will it come out during the summer?

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X_Tow_Naga: the right word is "apparate". No, Harry cannot apparate right into the torch chamber – it'd be way too easy for him, wouldn't it? No, I haven't seen Thumb Wars, though it is surely very funny - what does Luke Skywalker look like as a thumb? Does he have blonde hair? And Chewie? Is he a furry thumb? And Yoda? Does he have funny ears? How can thumbs wield lightsabers? (this was a rhetorical question, but answer it if you can!)

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lady nagini: truth be told I wanted to name my fic "HP and the green flame torch" at first, but then I changed my mind, because there were 5-6 stories on ffnet with that title, and I didn't want to copy anyone. (I haven't even read those fics). Anyway, I guess the actual title catches people's attention much easier, so it was the right choice to make, and I'm happy that I gave up the original title-idea.

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Hermione/Nina/Ginny: OH, I'M SCARED NOW! (jk)

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Lololo: you won't see Lily grow up – though you'll see her being 1-2 year old in the sequel. You asked the meaning of some abbreviations: btw = by the way, IMHO = in my humble opinion

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Twink: you asked what was going to happen with Sunny when Harry comes back into her life. Well… I guess you are expecting great emotions, tears and jealousy. You won't get it. Sunny already has someone (you can say I'm totally crazy after having found out who that is…)

Okay, enjoy! (And forgive me for certain parts… I guess I've watched too much Indiana Jones and Relic Hunter…)

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Chapter 32

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The green flame torch

"…so I told him that he was famous enough to be photographed together with me. But of course he never became as famous as me, neither as handsome as me…"

"I see, Gildy." the girl chuckled, fondly examining the man's smooth features.

"Sunny!" a third voice yelled behind their backs.

They turned around to see a panting, excited boy with jet-black hair and those unmistakable glasses.

"Harry!" Gilderoy Lockhart and Anck-sun-Amun cried in surprise.

"Yeah… it's me." the newcomer gasped for breath. "I… I need your ring, Sunny."

"My… ring?" she raised an eyebrow.

"Yeah… that one with Adrien's thread." Harry nodded.

"Ariadne." the girl corrected. "Why do you need it?"

"'Cause… I've… I've got to go into the Great Pyramid." the boy explained.

"To use the torch?" Sunny asked excitedly.

"Exactly." Harry nodded. "Would you lend your ring to me? It's a matter of life and death! My fiancee… she's dead."

"Oh! Then she must be the girl who brought about the downfall of You-Know-Who!" Anck-sun-Amun perceived. "We heard about it yesterday!"

"Then will you help me?"

"Of course I will. But all I can help is give you the ring. I cannot go in there with you again." the girl replied.

"Yes, I know. Just give it to me." Harry gabbled, making nervous gestures.

"Here. Use it well. May it help you and your love." Sunny handed him the ring.

"Thanks." Harry took it and disapparated.

"He didn't even greet me!" Gilderoy expressed his indignation.

"Had I been in his place, I wouldn't have, either." she remarked. "You wanted to wipe his memory, dear."

"Ah, true." Lockhart shrugged. "I was such a bad boy… but I've matured since then. I've become more responsible and even more adorable…"

* * * * *

Harry made sure that no one (especially no Muggles) saw him, and stepped to the stone that had Isis' mark on it in the basement of the Great Pyramid. He knocked on it with his wand, and a secret gate opened with a hiss to reveal a dark passageway leading into the bowels of the building.

He had less than 20 hours until the gate would close for another 1000 years… there was no time to be wasted.

Harry entered the corridor, hearing the gate close behind him. He hoped he'd arrive back to it before it shut permanently.

He whispered _Lumos_, after tying the magical, unbreakable thread to a projection on the inner side of the gate, and started down the dimly lit corridor.

After eight or nine minutes of walk, the corridor narrowed to 30 inches in width.

The usually sandy ground got replaced by a floor made of bricks. All of them had signs engraved in them.

"Oh, heavens, I can't read the hieroglyphs!" Harry sighed. *Is this a trap? Am I supposed to step only on certain bricks? But which ones? On the eyes or on the serpents?* there were rocks with at least seven types of signs, but Harry was positive that either Isis or Apophys was the key to his riddle. *Oh, well… I have to risk… the torch can only be accessed by Parselmouths, so let's try the serpent mark!*

He tentatively placed his left foot on the nearest brick that had a snake-mark on it, trying to maintain his balance on his right leg as well, so that he could jump back if a hidden trapdoor opened for him to fall into.

The brick seemed to be able to sustain him, so he slowly placed all his weight on the left leg, now standing on one leg like a stork.

"Whew!" he let out the breath he had been holding, and looked for the next rock with the serpent mark.

He had almost crossed the narrow part of the corridor when he reached the last row of bricks from which he needed to choose one, in order to get out the 'minefield'.

"Okay, now, which one is the serpent?" he mused, pointing his wand downwards to illuminate the marks on the bricks. They were indistinct, as though the surface of the bricks had been washed away by a thousand-year-long flood, just like many bricks of the Great Sphinx.

Try as he might, Harry couldn't make out the signs. *Should I step on one of them, or rather levitate myself to the other side of the brick-field? Will I be cursed if I skip this?*

It was a difficult choice to make.

*Okay, fortune favours the brave.* he took a deep breath and stepped one of the bricks to the right.

It didn't sink to open a shaft – that was a good sign – and Harry managed to reach the end of the narrow part of the corridor… when he heard a whooshing noise.

"Aaaah!" he cried in horror and ducked as a spear bore into the wall just where his head had been a millisecond earlier.

"My gosh!" he clutched his chest to prevent his heart from jumping out. "Get a grip…" he whispered, "I'm still in one piece… though it was a near miss…"

He stood up, holding out his wand to illuminate the passageway in front of himself.

Soon Harry reached a fork, where he had to choose which rout to take. Some rats scurried under his feet, but he didn't care for them. He felt quite helpless: there was no sign on the walls to direct him, and to his greatest regret, there was no voice telling him the way now.

He reached into his pocket, pulling out his Moon Run Champion medal.

*In lack of coins, this will do. Heads or tails?* he threw the medal into the air, then let it fall on the ground to reveal the inscription '_Moon Run 1998'_. "Tails, then." he breathed, pocketed the medal and started down the corridor to the left.

After twenty minutes he entered a lounge filled with eerie, blue light. Enchanting music came from somewhere, making Harry extremely drowsy. No wonder – he hadn't slept for about sixty hours.

"Cooome… coooooome…" a mysterious voice beckoned to him.

"Who's there?" he asked, looking around, seeing no person, only blue light and a bed with blue curtains. The speaker must have been hiding behind the curtain.

As Harry walked up to the bed, the curtains got magically pulled back to reveal a beautiful, exotic, Asian girl, lying naked on blue pillows.

"Cho!" the boy breathed, recognising her.

"Oh, yes, Harry, it's me!" the girl stretched out her hands for him, but Harry didn't budge.

"What are you doing here?" he asked, full of suspicion. "I heard you returned to China to open a McRice fast-food restaurant."

"But Harry…" she sat up, tossing her black locks behind her shoulder to expose her full breasts, "Harry, how could you ever believe that I left you? I always loved you… after Ced died, that is… you can't imagine how disappointed I was when I got to know about your liaison with Ginny Weasley… she never deserved you…" her voice was sweet, so was the scent of her nude body.

"Listen, Cho…" Harry began, but the woman stood up, stepping closer to him, her black-eyed stare diving into his green eyes. "You never, never really loved her…" she cooed, "it's me you loved… all along."

"It's you I loved…" he echoed her words.

"Good." she smiled, caressing his jaw-line, "And now… turn back… don't search for that torch… she isn't worth the trouble."

"She isn't worth…" Harry mumbled, mesmerised by her stare.

"Good boy… clever boy…" she pulled him closer for a kiss, but he suddenly cried out, jumping back from her embrace, massaging his ankle where a rat had bitten him just when Cho was about to kiss him.

"You damned rat!" he yelled as the small animal disappeared from sight. He saw stars from pain, but when he looked up again, his view was somehow clear again. 

"You aren't Cho!" he exclaimed. "I don't know who or what you are, but the real Cho would never encourage me not to help Ginny! The real Cho never loved me, anyway!"

"Very clever." the woman nodded and changed into a serpent, and slithered away.

*It was a trap… and I almost fell into it…* Harry chastised himself. He was truly upset – he loved Ginny, not Cho!!! Not anymore, that is.

He saw a blue door at the opposite end of the lounge and walked over to it. The door was closed.

"_Alohomora_!" he said, but it didn't budge.

"Okay, then, _open_!" he demanded in Parseltounge, and the door slowly opened to reveal a small room with no corridor leading out of it. The room seemed to have only one door: that was the entrance and the exit at once.

In the middle of the room, there was a huge stone coffin.

Harry didn't see anything conspicuous on it – there were hieroglyphs, of course, but he didn't care for them, since he couldn't read them.

*Pity that Sunny couldn't come.* he thought bitterly. The girl would have been able to interpret all the funny signs.

He looked around once more to make sure that there was really no exit. He didn't see scripts on the walls, nor bricks that could have been pushed or turned to open a secret door. Nothing. Absolutely nothing, just bare walls and sand-stone floor.

*That coffin must have been put there on purpose.* Harry thought. *Maybe that's the solution… something must be in the coffin that will help me continue my way.*

He stepped closer, examining the cover of the coffin, trying to find out how to open it. Finally he chose to use the simplest levitation charm: "_Wingardium Leviosa_!" he pointed his wand at the coffin and its top shuddered, then lifted a bit, slipping to the side, falling on the floor with a thunderous thud that shattered the whole room.

Harry peered into the coffin and its inhabitant peered back at him.

The boy felt his blood freeze as a very unsympathetic guy, covered with bandages climbed out of his resting place.

Harry's mind reeled – trying to recall Professor Lupin's mummy-repelling spell. Shame that he hadn't paid better attention in that class back in November – but his mind had been on Ginny's pregnancy and its consequences, rather than listening to Ron's presentation on Egyptian curses and Lupin's explanation afterwards.

*If I die now, I'll never forgive myself for not paying attention to Lupin!* he swore as he backed against the door he had entered through. *It has to be here…* he groped for the doorknob, but all he felt was the wall.

The door had disappeared, and he was trapped in the room with a vicious mummy.

Too bad.

The mummy was gaining on him, its yellow eyes glinting, its bandaged hands threateningly in the air to strike down.

*What if it's just a boggart?* Harry mused. *Worth a try.* he pointed his wand at the mummy, imagining it stumble in its bandages, just like Parvati's boggart in third class.

"_Ridikkulus_!" he yelled, but nothing happened.

*No boggart, then.* he gulped, then with a sudden idea he levitated the coffin's top above the mummy, crushing it with the massive stone cover.

"Yesss!" he punched gleefully into the air, heading for the coffin to have a look at its insides. As he walked past the flattened mummy, something abruptly jerked his right leg from under him.

"Hey!" he fell facedown on the floor, trying to pull his leg free from the mummy's vice-like grip. "Let go!" he yelled, but the ugly fellow only growled at him. One could have guessed that it had no more sense than a mountain troll.

Harry struggled to get free, then pointed his wand backwards, shouting _Rictusempra_!. It had the required effect: the mummy doubled up with laughter under the coffin top, (anyone heard of a hysterically chortling mummy???) letting go of Harry's leg.

The boy jumped up, panting. While his attacker pummelled the floor with its bandaged fists, not being able to stop laughing, Harry ran to the coffin to peer into it.

To his greatest satisfaction, there were stairs leading downwards at the bottom of the coffin.

"No… heeheehee… you don't!…" the mummy giggled, throwing the stone from his back, heading for Harry, still viciously shaking from laughter.

"Aw… professor Lupin… why don't I rem…" Harry mumbled, then slapped his forehead. "That's it! _Mankimummi Menacenomi_!"

The spell took effect, and the attacker vanished.

Harry's way downstairs was free.

He illuminated the stairs with the small flame on the tip of his wand while walking down. He must have taken at least 200 steps when he heard something strange – a sizzling noise.

Another 20 steps later it became louder and another 15 steps later Harry stopped then jumped four steps upwards. He finally saw the source of the noise: the staircase ended in a corridor, the floor of which was covered with swarming black scarab-beetles.

Harry fought down the urge to shout – he didn't want to attract attention. (Though he didn't really think that the beetles were intelligent enough to recognise a human yelp.)

"Oh, well…" he mumbled, wrinkling his nose. "What are scarabs afraid of?… What did Ron say? Ah! Fire!"

He pointed his wand at the heap of disgusting beetles, saying _Incendio_!

In the next second the corridor filled with blazing fire and the beetles fled. Harry implemented an extinguishing charm and stepped down from the stairs.

As his legs touched the ground, the corridor shuddered, indicating a huge object making its way down the slightly sloping passageway.

"What the…?" Harry asked, but before he could finish the question, he already saw the answer: it was huge, round boulder almost of the same width as the corridor, rolling towards Harry.

"Oh, dear!" Harry exclaimed. He knew that if he didn't find out something in twenty seconds, he would end up as a pancake.

It was no rosy prospect.

"_Impedimenta_!" he yelled, only managing to slow down the boulder, this way gaining about eleven seconds before collision.

His mind raced with desperation. *The shield charm won't protect me against such a huge rock… nor would a patronus… if only I could change into a small animal now!*

But he was no animagus. At that moment – 40 feet away from the deadly boulder – it didn't occur to him to disapparate. Anyway, where should he apparate now – so close to his aim?…

…Because somehow he felt that he was close – not only to the rock, but to the chamber with the torch, too.

"_Expelliarmus! Stupefy_! Oh, no, it's not alive! _Reducto_!"

The reductor curse finally reached the required effect and the large rock burst into several pieces, stopping two metres from the boy. A bigger chunk, however, hit Harry in midsection, making him double up with pain. He almost lost his consciousness, falling to his knees. He was sure that at least three of his ribs had broken.

"I've… got to… stand up…" Harry gritted his teeth, forcing himself to continue his way.

He had to climb through the heap of littered rocks – with his broken ribs it felt like climbing the Mount Everest.

When he reached the ground again on the other side of the 'mountain', he was already seeing stars. His leg also hurt – the rat must have bitten a tendon, and the mummy's grip only worsened its condition.

He leaned against a wall to rest a bit – but the wall vanished from behind his back, and he fell backwards.

"Enough… is enough!" he hissed, hoping that his spine didn't break.

He tried to move his limbs – they all hurt, but it was a good sign: his backbone hadn't suffered a serious injury.

He rolled to his side, trying to prop himself with his arms to stand up… as he struggled, his stare fell on a pair of legs with huge claws.

He slowly lifted his head. He didn't feel like wrestling a dagger-toothed tiger in his present condition.

The legs with those enormous claws belonged to a sphinx.

"Ahem… hullo…" the boy greeted the half-lion, half-woman creature.

"Good day to you, too, young man." the sphinx smiled, her sky-blue eyes jovially glinting. "Don't be afraid, you don't have to fight with me. All you need to do is…"

"… solve a riddle." Harry finished the sentence, pushing himself into standing position.

"Exactly. If you can answer it, I'll make your way free into the adjacent room, which is the last one before the chamber of the Green Flame Torch. If you tell a wrong answer, I'll attack you. But if you keep silence, I'll let you go back the way you came here."

"Okay." the boy wiped his beading forehead, although even this small move made his chest ache as if being stabbed by a hundred lances. "Tell me your quiz."

__

Though it has two faces, 

There's only one we know,

The other is hidden, 

It's reluctant to show.

Although it seems tiny, 

It commands ebb and tide,

Even the greatest light 

It is able to hide.

"Well…" Harry furrowed his brow. "Two faces… not Professor Quirrel, is it?"

The sphinx gave him a questioning look.

"It wasn't guessing!" Harry added hastily. "I was just thinking aloud. Well… so it's tiny, but can conceal the greatest light…" he wished he hadn't been so tired to think. "The greatest light… the Sun, isn't it?" he looked at the sphinx for reassurance, but she only smiled (how typical of sphinxes, huh?)

"Well, the Sun, then… it can hide the Sun… and it commands ebb and tide… as far as I know, ebb and tide are in connection with the… _Moon_! Yeah!" his face lit up. "The Moon has two sides, but from Earth we can only see one! And it sometimes covers the Sun, making a solar eclipse!"

"Well done, young man." the sphinx nodded, and let him pass.

"Thanks." he smiled at the half-woman, half-lion, and entered the last room separating him from his destination.

There was nothing special in the room – only a transparent door could be seen in its opposite wall. Harry could see the green flames of the torch blazing through it.

Harry stepped to the door that was made of some kind of a crystal. "Strange…" he muttered." Last time the door wasn't translucent. Oh, well," he took a deep breath, imagining a snake, and said _Open!_ in Parseltounge.

"It cannot be opened from outside." he heard a voice from behind his back.

He turned around to see a small, thin and bald man in a cloak.

"Wormtail!" he whispered.


	33. The green ring of fire

****

A/N: I hope you all head a wonderful new-year's day! (I didn't because I had to study for the exam I had today.)

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teacherchez: neither bewitched, nor J.K.R. in disguise, you can take my word for that :-)

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Angel Solo: I love reviewers like you! Thanks for reviewing all the chapters!

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Anigurl88: yes, I made up the riddle. The story is about 200 A4 pages long – almost as long as HP and the Prisoner of Azkaban. 

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Nefertiti: two chapters together with this one.

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gurlie409: pretty close, though not totally.

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PepsiAngel: one more chapter after this one.

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VeRyWiLdWiTcH: yes, the "thingy way up at the top" is almost as long as the story itself! Sorry about that, but all of you ask so many questions that I feel I need to answer them all (well, almost all of them :-)

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JoeBob1379: more about Sunny and Gilderoy in the next chapter. The other question: yes.

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D2: Wormtail will answer your question in person.

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georgia: daggers, swords, lances… it doesn't matter – all that matters is that it has to hurt!

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Pudadingding: really? *huge grin*

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Lionheart Eternal: nice ending – yes. Simple – no.

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Armageddon: no, Wormtail isn't dead – he'll explain how he got away.

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princesswitch: may I ask something? What does "toodles" mean? I can't find it in any dictionary.

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moonys*gal: yes, I made it up, back in August (it was a very nice late-August evening, the Moon had just come up, and I was thinking of a riddle for the sphinx. Then I looked at the Moon and said: "that's it!")

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Tsar: just like reading a Playstation action game? LOL! About "that Draco git"… um… I might disappoint you… truly sorry that I made you sad :-(

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X-Tow_Naga: lol, you gave me a good laugh! Thanks for the descriptions!

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HarryPotterCC1: what do I do when I finish the story? A sequel, of course! (But don't expect it earlier than Easter!)

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Princess Backstreet: the boulder? Yes, I guess that was from Indiana Jones.

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Waldomier: how does he get inside? Just wait you'll find out… You REALLY didn't know there was an original British version of the book? But Rowling IS British! Anyway, the original version is not much different – the title of the first book is the greatest difference, I guess. There are a couple of words that are different in British and American English, but I can't remember any of them now (though there are definitely some, I know it, since I've read the books both in British and American English.)

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Twink: the torch can only be used for bringing back ONE person. Only one.

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Toby Haine: what? I fear I don't understand your problem with the italics and bold and underlined writing. I write them in Word, then transform the Word format into HTML format and for me it doesn't take away the italics and bold. 

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Jazzofborg: no, nothing that devious.

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star queen: you'll get more Herm and Ron in the next chapter that will be the last one. (sorry to disappoint you… but I'm working on a sequel, so don't get too disappointed!)

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obi_ewan_maul_lover: yes, I think the riddle was far too easy – that one with the spider was much more difficult but I couldn't think up something that complicated. Yes, you can look forward to the sequel – until April or May. (sorry, but I won't start posting it before the whole story is ready – I did the same with this fic – because after having written chapter 30 I still found stuff in chapter 1 that had to be corrected. I promise that as soon as I'm ready with my exams I'll really get down to the sequel and try to write it as quickly as possible.)

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Slytherins R Sexy: you mean the London Dungeon was scary? I'd like to see it! About the "Ethiopian" racer – yes, I wrote it wrong, left out an "h". I also now schnoogle and visit it frequently for the Draco Series, and I also like gryffindortower. About the side-story with Voldie in the shower cap… I might include it into the sequel, okay? In case it turns dark, I'll insert a dream about Voldie having shower and it will enlighten the mood, LOL. About your grades dropping… I suggest you stop reading that many fics! They are harmful… especially mine… and I'd be really sad if you got bad grades because of me… ;-)

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chuckles: you've got a nice uncle then!

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Hermione/Nina/Ginny: …otherwise my new-year isn't going to be how I imagined it might be? Cool, because I imagined it pretty bad… all those exams… yuck!

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JingleJake: no, impossible – only one person!

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speaker-of-the-dead: she WILL finish her studies. Yes, you'll see more of Draco, Dudley and Millicent.

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lady nagini: yes.

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AniMourner: no, actually I haven't done any research on it.

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TheBestFlamer: you lived up to your name.

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pandarwin: a boggart? Nay.

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HpgoldySnitch: I wish I could meet her! I had so many questions for her (as I presume you all do!)

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Meatball Head: as I have told someone else, my SW fics aren't worth reading. Silly, sappy stuff.

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Moony Lover: thanks!

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Yibble Legnets: thanks for the encouragement :-)

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LisaQT3: I also think this is the best twist :-)

SOMEONE HAS ALREADY ASKED HOW THEY WILL FIND THE SEQUEL AMONG ALL THOSE FICS – NOW I'M MAKING YOU AN OFFER: IF YOU WANT ME, I'LL EMAIL YOU AS SOON AS I START UPLOADING THE SEQUEL (SOMETIME IN LATE SPRING, NO SOONER). SO, IF YOU WANT ME TO LET YOU KNOW ABOUT IT, GIVE ME YOUR EMAIL-ADDRESSES AND I'LL NOTIFY YOU, OKAY?

And now, enjoy the one-before-the-last chapter!

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Chapter 33

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The green ring of fire

"Wormtail!" Harry whispered. "What the hell are you doing here?"

"Following you, Harry." the death-eater replied calmly.

"Why?" the boy raised his wand in case he needed to defend himself.

"Because I knew what you wanted to do here."

"Knew? How?"

"After My Lord died, I turned into a rat and ran away – as far as I could. I chose to move to Thailand, but on my way I stopped in Egypt… So, I came to Systematic Alley. As I got tired wandering around on the streets, I decided to rest a bit, and moved into a house that I found most sympathetic. I was just taking a nap in a corner when I was awoken by an excited boy blabbering about a ring he needed, and a torch he wanted to use to help his dead lover come back to life." Harry's eyes became slits, but Wormtail didn't bother to carry on with his speech. "Then I remembered Aunt Maggie… she was an Egyptologist witch, who swore to have discovered an ancient script about a mysterious torch. According to her, the torch had green flames, and was able to bring back the dead. Of course no one believed her. Not much later she was brought into St. Mungo, because she maniacally insisted on her theory. She died in the lunatic ward of the hospital. I didn't believe her either – but now I do. When I heard about your intention of saving the Weasley girl, I immediately knew where to look for you."

"How did you manage to pass all the traps?" Harry asked, suspiciously.

"I followed the silver thread that your ring ejected… of course I did so as a rat. Neither the mummy, nor the shape-shifter snake, not even the sphinx noticed that I was no real rat."

"Then Crookshanks is smarter than any of them." Harry murmured. "I hope you know that I won't let you reach your aim, Wormtail!" he swished his wand a bit to indicate that he was ready to strike down if needed.

"To reach my aim?" the ratty death-eater raised an eyebrow. "What do you know of my aims?"

"I know enough." Harry gritted his teeth. "You are eager on resurrecting Voldemort! That's why you followed me! You just let me fight down all the obstacles, so that you could have the torch for your own vile purposes!"

"Now, now, son…"

"Don't call me _son_!" the boy bellowed. "You caused my parents' death!"

"I don't deny it." Wormtail nodded. "But I deny your accusation that I want to resurrect My Lord."

"Why should I believe you? You still call him _Your _Lord!"

"Why should you believe me?" the death-eater's beady little eyes scrutinised Harry's features. "Why? Because I helped you."

"Helped – me???" the boy let out a hysteric laugh.

"Yes." Wormtail replied. "Who do you think bit your ankle to bring you to your senses? I did."

"But you bit my ankle on purpose! You wanted me to move ahead, so that you could access the torch!"

"Your deduction is almost brilliant. _Almost_. You may believe that I want the torch… You may think whatever you want to." Wormtail shrugged. "But you still won't be able to get the torch without my help."

"What do you mean?" Harry crossed his arms.

"Do you see that small, round hole at the bottom of the door?"

Harry nodded.

"It's the entrance." the animagus asserted.

Harry gave him a '_don't-take-me-for-a-fool'_-stare.

"Believe me, it's the entrance. Aunt Maggie wrote down everything in her notes. She wrote that only a Parselmouth could access the torch, but if he or she doesn't use the first opportunity, and comes back later, won't be able to open the door, unless he can turn into something small enough to run… or slither through that tiny round door."

"How do you know that this is my second time here?" Harry furrowed his brow.

"It's simple, boy. Number one: I heard the girl telling you that she cannot come in here _again _with you. Number two: had this been your first time, you wouldn't have been hindered by so many obstacles."

Harry had to admit that Wormtail's reasoning made sense.

"Do you reckon that this entrance, or what, was designed for snakes?"

"Exactly." the bald man nodded. "The torch belongs to Apophys, after all…"

"And you think you could go in there as a rat?" the boy asked, dubiously.

"I do."

"What guarantee do I get that you won't try to use the torch to bring back Voldemort, once you are in the chamber?"

"Guarantee? No need for that. I cannot use the torch. Remember… only a Parselmouth can use it, and I'm no adept of the serpent language. Thus you don't need a guarantee… Anyway, you don't have another choice – you can't get in there without my help."

Harry contemplated Wormtail's words. He simply knew that he had to take chances with Wormtail.

"Okay. Do it. Go in and open the door for me." he sighed.

"Wise decision." the bald little man nodded, and turned into a rat.

Harry watched as Wormtail ran through the small round hole into the chamber of the Green Flame Torch.

For a moment the boy crossed his fingers, following Wormtail with his eyes, seeing as the small animal turned into a man again. Harry strongly hoped that he did the right thing when trusting that 'rat'.

His fear was unfounded – the massive crystal door slid aside, making Harry's way free into the chamber lit by the mysterious green flames of the torch.

Wormtail stood next to the circle drawn on the floor.

"Come, take the torch." he said.

Harry still remembered Anck-sun-Amun's words, that he had to step inside the circle and ignite it around himself.

He gulped, reached out for the torch, and stepped into the middle of the circle.

"Go, and bring her back." Wormtail encouraged him.

The boy nodded and touched the flames to the circle that caught fire at once, separating him from the outside world by a wall of green flames.

"_Are you ready to enter the netherworld?_" a low, hissing voice asked.

"_Yeah… I am_." he answered in Parseltongue, and in the next instant he got sucked into something like an eddy, that whirled, twirled and finally spat him out into a meadow full of flowers.

Harry landed on all fours, his glasses sliding down to the tip of his nose.

He slowly stood up, dusted his robes, adjusted his glasses and looked around.

He saw meadows as far as the eye could reach: dandelions, bluebells and daises swaying in the breeze, a clear-watered little creek running through the field.

It was beautiful, and made Harry feel alive – truly alive, though he was in the netherworld. He no more felt tired or drowsy, not even his leg and ribs hurt anymore.

Well, this place could not be hell.

"Harry?" a soft voice came from behind him.

He spun around to see a beautiful, red-haired woman with emerald green eyes.

"M…mom!" he whispered.

The woman's eyes filled with tears, as she stretched out her arms for him. Harry flung his arms around her neck, sobbing.

"Mom… oh mom!" for the first time in his life he could hug the woman who had given birth to him.

"Son…" this time a virile voice spoke up, making Harry look up to see a tall man with jet-black hair and glasses, through his tears.

"Dad!" he wiped his tears, (no man would show his father that he was crying), and let James Potter gather him into an embrace.

"My son…" James looked at Harry, taking in all his features. "Man, you've grown! I'm so proud of you!"

"Are you?" Harry blinked. "I did things one should never be proud of."

James looked directly into his son's eyes. "But you mended your ways, my son. You have nothing to feel ashamed about." he said with a very serious voice.

"Your father is right, Harry." Lily Potter put her hand on her son's shoulder. "You made mistakes, but everyone does. You really did things you should never be proud of, but when needed, you showed courage and generosity. We saw it… and our little daughter-in-law here can also attest to that."

Harry turned around to see a brightly smiling Ginny, standing in a cluster of violets, wearing a dress so white, that it seemed to have been woven of moonlight.

"Ginny!" Harry ran up to her, pulling her into a loving hug.

"What are you doing here, Love?" her face looked a bit worried. "You aren't dead, are you?"

"No way. I've come for you, dearest." he replied.

"For me?"

"Yes." he nodded. "Mom… dad… we have to go."

"We know, son." James smiled. "Hurry up, you have only two hours left before the pyramid closes. I suppose you don't intend to wait for another 1000 years."

"That's right." 

"Take care, my son." Lily kissed him on the cheek. "And you, young lady, also take care of him! Never let him come home too late, and don't let him flutter huge amounts, and…"

"Lily." James cut in. "She'll know how to control him."

"I hope so." his wife chuckled.

"Good bye, mom, dad." Harry said.

"Bye… see you in a hundred years, my dear!" Lily waved.

Harry took Ginny by the hand and said _back!_ in Parseltongue.

* * * * *

He fell out of the circle that didn't blaze anymore. The handle of the green flame torch was again buried two inches into the ground, casting an eerie glow on the walls.

However, it was not the only light in the chamber.

Harry looked down at his right hand, in which he had held Ginny's hand before they 'came back'. Now he had a small, green flame dancing in his hand – Ginny's spirit.

"Time is running out." Wormtail broke the silence. "You have to go if you want to reach the gate before it closes."

"And you?" Harry asked.

"I forgot to mention you something, boy." the man replied with a wistful smile. "In Aunt Maggie's notes I read something important: if you enter the chamber for the second time, and leave it again, you'll be cursed and won't be able to reach the gate alive… unless someone takes the curse on himself, and stays here for you."

"Then… the chamber is a trap?" Harry looked shocked.

"Yes and no. Only if you come here for the second time… Apophys had a weird sense of humour, and never liked returning guests."

"Does it mean, that I fought down all those obstacles for nothing???" Harry gasped.

"No." Wormtail shook his head. "No, because I'm here. And I'll stay here."

"You? Why?" Harry didn't dare trust his ears. Why would this ever-greedy, egoistic guy want to stay here… _instead of him_? 

"As you know I owe you a life-debt, which is the strongest bind between two wizards…" Harry saw the death-eater's eyes glint with an unaccustomed sincerity. "I have nothing left, boy… no Lord, no aims, nothing. But you, you are young, full of energy, with a prospect for a wonderful life. You have people loving you and expecting you back – a daughter, first of all. I have no one who cares for me… Anyway, I'm sure I'll hit it off with the other rats in here…" he let out a resigned sigh. "Go before I change my mind… this is a one-time offer… take it. Go, Harry, be a great wizard and make your parents be proud of you."

"Peter…" Harry stepped closer.

"Hurry now." Pettigrew backed away. "Go, and be happy, Harry Potter."

"Thank you." the boy gave him a faint smile and left the chamber, hearing its crystal door slam shut behind his back.

Harry still remembered Dumbledore telling him:_ "The time may come when you will be very glad you saved Pettigrew's life…"_

Back in third year Harry thought that the old headmaster must have gone crazy. Now he began to see Dumbledore's words from another point of view… and those words made sense.

Now all he needed to do was follow Ariadne's thread back to the gate – back to freedom.

****

A/N2: okay, you can say that I'm an emotional dupe for making Peter sacrifice himself, but I wanted to. Period. Only one more chapter to go, and the last one will be REALLY LONG!!!


	34. Wedding at Christmas

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A/N: hello, everyone, here I am again, with the final chapter!

I'M TRULY, TRULY SORRY FOR MAKING YOU WAIT THIS LONG, BUT TODAY I HAD A NASTY EXHAUSTING PSYCHOLOGY EXAMINATION AND HAD TO STUDY LIKE HELL! Forgive me, please!?!

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Toby Haine: you wrote your email address changed, but you only wrote "toby1984dude2002", and no "@hotmail.com" or "@yahoo.com", so I had no idea what the actual address was. I promise to read your fic as soon as I can, be patient, please! Yes, my fic was also poorly reviewed at first – for chapter one I got 13 reviews, and that was more than I expected, but then the catastrophe of 11th Sept came, and I happened to upload chapter 2 that day, so no wonder that no one read it. Later I started to get more and more reviews, especially after Draco and Dudley's conspiracy. So have faith and keep writing! Btw, how do you that your fic will have 33 chapters? I had no idea how long my fic would be when I started to write it – actually I only wanted to write 5-6 chapters! Anyway, we can talk in mails if you want to, just send me a mail or tell me your exact email-address.

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Mage: what exactly did you mean by "W"? Would you expand on it?

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Hermione/Nina/Ginny: Hungarian children in the primary and high school get winter holidays (two weeks), but university and college students (like me) have their exams from 20th December to the end of January.

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Jazzofborg: Lily will still be a baby (1-2 year old) in the sequel.

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moonys*gal: no, I haven't been to Egypt, but have read lots of books about Egyptian mythology and watched many documentary films on Discovery Channel and National Geographic Channel on this topic. I think that Egypt is a fascinating country.

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Lionheart Eternal: as I have told quite a lot of times, I'm working on a sequel, and I promise there will be H/G stuff in there :-)

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Waldomier: read my reply to _Lionheart Eternal_ right above you.

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AniMourner: I admit I had to look up the names of the three stars in the Orion belt, but I guess that's all the research I made. The sequel is going to be about… *people waiting with bated breath*… _Harry Potter_! What a surprise!!! (No, actually I don't want to reveal anything about the plot – let it be a surprise!)

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darkhaven: finally decided to read it? Um, do you mean you were trying to persuade yourself for a long time NOT TO read it? Just wondering…

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Jade Tsukinomoto: the name 'Gumercindo Heriberto' comes from a Brazilian soap opera, called 'Terra nostra'. It's about Italians settlers who came to Brazil after the abolition of slavery. There was a Brazil planter called Gumercindo, and there was a Brazil policeman called Heriberto. Mara Jade? Yes, she's really cool! I was jumping for joy when I read that she married Luke and when I got to know that they were about to have a baby I got so excited that I couldn't sleep all night!

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Hazel Harman: of course NO ONE can be as good a writer as J.K.R.! She's simply the best! My idol!

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obi_ewan_maul_lover and_ Anna: _thanks for wishing me good luck with my exams – I need it! I have already had some of them, but I'll have to do marketing, German, economy, European Union Studies and International Relations and Institutions (pretty dull subjects, believe me).

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Rodi: no, there won't be 2000 reviews, but I expect at least 1700 (which is also an extreme amount, isn't it? When I started writing this fic I was expecting to get about five reviews per chapter, so I was hoping to get about 150-160 when all 34 chapters were uploaded. And now I have ten times more:-)

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veronik: yes, only one person could be brought back. I guess I mentioned it back in chapter 21 when Harry first sees the torch.

j_eanineDR23_: when I read "lo mejor que he leido en much tiempo", I had no idea what it meant, so I phoned my best friend who speaks Spanish and asked her, and I got very happy about the meaning! My favourite HP book is The goblet of fire. Yours?

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teacherchez: no, I'm no witch at all :-) No idea how to do magic!

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X_Tow_Naga: you asked about Harry saving Wormtail's life in the real books. Well, in HP and the prisoner of Azkaban Sirius and Lupin want to kill Wormtail, but Harry doesn't let them, he says: "You can't kill him… We'll take him up to the castle. We'll hand him over to the Dementors. He can go to Azkaban… just don't kill him." later he tells Peter: "I'm not doing this for you. I'm doing it because I don't reckon my dad would've wanted his best friends to become killers – just for you." To your questions: Wormtail didn't get to the entrance faster than Harry. He only followed Harry. No, Draco didn't get into legal trouble, because not many people know about him giving the potion to Dudley. About Neville's dream: there was NO dead Ginny in it!!!

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megan: the sequel doesn't have a fixed title yet, but one thing is sure: it will have "the greatest" in it. If you want me I'll email you when it is ready and I start uploading, okay?

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zzxm: you asked how I sent my mom a howler. Well, on harrypotter.warnerbros.com you can find howlers – click on Diagon Alley, there you'll find them. The coolest IMHO is "You're as ugly as a troll!" LOL. I know Imogen's fics and have recommended them to people myself.

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Amy: Oliver Wood is played by Sean Biggerstaff.

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Amen: read my answer to _veronik_.

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lady nagini: I HAVE printed it out, of course! 

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CrAZyCoW: no, he didn't have any trouble getting back – as you'll see in this chapter.

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speaker_of_the_dead: you are right about floo powder, but if it cannot be used at Hogwarts, then how did Bill, Mr. and Mrs. Weasley, the Krums, the Delacours, etc. get there? Did they just apparated to Hogsmeade then walked up to the castle? *possible, though* Anyway, I actually WANTED the characters to use floo powder. And Rowling NEVER wrote that you couldn't use floo powder at Hogwarts, she only wrote that apparating was impossible. Why the kids got transported by the Hogwarts Express instead of floo? Well, maybe it would have been dangerous if a thousand students shouted "Hogwarts" into the flames at the same time, they could have stuck in the floo-traffic-jam!

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griff girl: was it Toby Haine who recommended my fic to you? Just wondering…

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Michael Kirner: of course I'll email you about the sequel, if you give me your email-address :-)

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Da Golden Snitch: I'll read your fic as soon as I can, I promise, but nowadays I have so much to study that I fear I'm going mad!!! About Episode II: of course I'll watch it, at least… three or four times.

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Abby Matthews: very wise of you not to go on a hunger strike, because by the time I posted this you could have starved to death! Standing ovation??? *thanks a lot, that was nice*

Okay, and now – I'd like to say thanks to:

J.K. Rowling, for writing Harry Potter – without her I wouldn't have been able to write this fic.

my dear mother, who was the best beta reader one could get! Thank you so much, mom!

to all of my readers, especially to the most faithful ones (7 being my fave number, I consider those "most faithful" who have written at least 7 reviews and have read the story at least to chapter 30 – they are the following, in alphabetical order): 2Coolio, Alexander Pheonix, Amen, Anna, Angel Solo, Anigurl88, Apple-pie, Ariana Black, Atalanta Zora, Aya-Chan, Basilisk, Blondie in Disguise, Chicory Tee, Cindy Moon, Creamy Mimi, Dragon Singer, D2, goodbooks3989, Gurlie409, HarryPotterCC1, Hermioneqc, Hermione Gulliver, Hermione/Nina/Ginny, Hermione Potter, Hobbit_Feet, HP Blonde Crazy Chick, HPgoldySnitch, Ilovelinkinpark222, Jennaration, JoeBob1379, Juliana Black, K-K, Lady Lupin, Lemondrop2000, Little Witch, Lucretia, Mandi, Meatball Head, Mikey, Myr_halcyon, Nefertiri, Nikkianna, Nutmeg, obi_ewan_maul_lover, Padme Skywalker, pandarwin, PepsiAngel, princesswitch, Pudandinging, Rab, Rodi, Rose, Shaun Wilson, Slitherins R Sexy, Super saya Jin-Gotan, Tayla Riddle, Teacherchez, Thorn, VeRyWiLdWitcH, Waldomier, X_Tow_Naga, Zenon Lee, zzxm.

Thank you all for reading and reviewing!

And now, to the last chapter! – this might be the funniest of all (maybe even _too_ funny - in an annoying or childish way -, but I wanted to give you a very cheerful ending and make up for all the sad stuff.)

Enjoy!

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Chapter 34

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Wedding at Christmas

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"Finishing a book is just like you took

a child out in the yard and shot it."

/Truman Capote/

"Harry still hasn't returned…It's… it's time to bury her." Arthur placed his hands on Molly's shoulders.

His wife nodded, just standing there, before the bier, weary eyes fixed on her only daughter's chalk-white face.

Ginny was still beautiful, even in death. Her long, dark eyelashes cast shadows on her almost translucent skin.

Molly still couldn't believe that those delicate chocolate brown eyes would never again glint mischievously, those cherry-coloured lips would never smile at her again… but she didn't cry – her tears had ebbed.

"Make it be a small, quiet funeral. My baby Ginny wouldn't want huge crowds swarming around." Mrs. Weasly turned to her husband.

"That won't be easy." Dumbledore cut in. "All of your friends, and many others would want to come… whole England… the whole wizarding world knows what happened…"

"I don't care. Don't let them come." Molly's voice was pleading.

"Dear…" Mr. Weasley was about to bring her to her senses when Harry apparated next to them.

"Harry!" Arthur gasped.

"Harry, dear!" Molly yelped, clasping her hands. "What happened? Where have you been?"

The boy didn't answer, just rushed to the corpse of his lover, holding and eerie, green flame in his bare hands.

"What the…?" Molly interjected, but Arthur hushed her with a wave of his hand.

"Ssssh! Look!" he whispered.

The Weasley parents stared at the boy and their dead daughter – Harry extended his right hand with the flame over Ginny's chest. Molly held her breath as the green flames turned into a small brand of fire, disappearing into Ginny's body, while Harry backed away a couple of feet.

For a moment the girl's body seemed to be on fire, green sparks bouncing and dancing around it, accompanied by a strange, sizzling noise.

"Oh, Arthur, what…"

"Sssh!" Mr. Weasley lifted his index finger to his mouth.

"But…" Molly protested, then her eyes widened in shock as the sizzling and sparkling suddenly came to an end. She grabbed her husband's arm, a horrified stare on her face. Arthur's expression mirrored hers, when abruptly a voice broke the silence:

"Harry… _he _couldn't kill you… could he?"

The Weasley parents dashed to the bier to see a deadly pale, but _living _Virginia Weasley trying to sit up, opening her _emerald green_ eyes.

"Oh, my God!" Molly jumped to her daughter, gathering her into an over-enthusiastic hug.

"Molly, Molly, you are stifling her!" Arthur yelled with tears of joy in his eyes, and joined them in the embrace.

Only seconds later the rest of the family burst into the room, followed by Hermione, Sirius, and Lupin.

"GINNY!" all of them yelled in unison and the family-members flung themselves on the embracing trio's necks. The cheering group looked exactly like a huge, many-legged, many-armed centipede. (Hagrid would have liked it!)

When the heap of madly whooping people finally got off Ginny, the girl let out a relieved sigh. "My, you were heavy!"

The room's walls shuddered from the erupting laughter of the family and friends, who had been mourning only minutes earlier.

"But… how? HOW?" Fred yelled. "You were dead! How can you be alive again?"

"That is exactly what I'm interested in, either." Dumbledore added.

"The Green Flame Torch." Harry replied.

"The what?" George asked.

"There is a torch… in Egypt… it can bring back the dead, but only if used by a Parselmouth." the boy explained. "It's quite a long story, though. Let me tell it later."

Dumbledore nodded with an enigmatic smile. *So it really exist… not just a legend.*

Percy elbowed his way to Ginny. "Sis, I'm so sorry for having been angry with you!" he said with Bambi eyes.

"Oh, Perce… I was never mad at you." Ginny stood up, walking past the crowd – to Harry, who had witnessed the family's outburst staying in the background.

Everyone fell silent – they knew that no one had the right to spoil this sacred moment between the two people who loved each other enough to be ready to sacrifice themselves so that the other one could live.

"Harry…" Ginny whispered, her emerald green eyes sparkling with happiness.

"Ginny…" he muttered, tears obscuring his vision. He couldn't believe that he actually had his love back… at first he didn't even perceive the change of Ginny's eye colour, which was due to the Green Flame Torch.

"I love you." she said.

"And I love you back." he caught her lips with his, pulling her into his arms, holding her close, as if he never wanted to let her go.

The twins started to snigger, Ron stepped to Hermione, taking hold of her hand, and Fleur bent her head on Bill's shoulder, while Molly burst into tears.

Sirius, Lupin and Dumbledore were smiling silently, Albus' face revealing how proud he was of both Harry and Ginny.

"Hey… enough of this, guys!" George patted Harry on the shoulder.

"Huh?" the boy let go of Ginny's lips and turned as red as the setting sun.

"Spare that for the wedding!" Fred grinned. "'Cause there will be a wedding, right?"

"Of course." Harry nodded. "As soon as possible."

"If you have waited this long, could you wait until Christmas?" Dumbledore interjected.

"Why?" Harry raised an eyebrow.

"Because back in last November I promised my students a Yule ball combined with a wedding." Albus smiled. "And I'd like to keep my word."

"Does that mean… does that mean that you'll come back, Professor Dumbledore?" Hermione's face lit up.

"Yes, Ms. Granger… I'm afraid you'll have to put up with such a crazy boss." his eyes glinted impishly. "The Ministry yesterday sent me an owl – they need me again…"

"Hey, Snapey won't be deputy-headmaster any longer!" Ron yelled with glee.

"And won't be Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher anymore, either." Dumbledore smirked. "We will be happy to have Remus back."

Lupin smiled. "I'll be glad to continue teaching."

"Cool!" George shouted. "All's well that ends well! What about a nice party now?"

"Great idea! I'm taking my Filibuster fireworks!" Fred added. "May I invite the Gryffindors, the Ravenclaws and the Hufflepuffs?"

"The Gryffindors… the Ravenclaws… and the Hufflepuffs?" Molly blanched. "How many people?"

"'bout six-hundred…" George shrugged with an angelic-innocent expression.

"Cool! I'll meet the costs!" Harry yelled. "I've won five thousand galleons at the Moon Run, after all…Don't start the party without me!" 

"Why? Where are you going?" his fiancee asked.

"To India… I left my things there… and a little friend, too."

As Harry disapparated, an owl flew into the house with the daily post.

"Look! An article on Stonehenge!" Bill read out. "_UFO activity mystifies Muggles at Stonehenge."_

"What? What's UFO?" Ron asked.

"Unidentified Flying Object." Hermione explained. "Muggles use this expression for alien visitors from other planets."

"But… what UFOs appeared at Stonehenge?" Fred cut in.

"No UFOs." Dumbledore smiled. "But I think I know what they meant…"

"What?" Molly Weasley asked.

"Well, um, I guess Sirius was a bit over-enthusiastic when restoring Stonehenge's _original _state… he accidentally put all the stones back to their places where they had been millennia ago, when the whole building was built."

"And the Muggles think it was done by Martians?" George laughed.

"It seems so." Albus nodded.

"Bless them… they are so blind when magic is concerned…" Arthur grinned.

* * * * *

The Hogwarts parks and castle were covered with glittering snow and the lake with thick ice that reflected the small lights of the million stars above. The night was silent – outside.

But inside, the greatest Christmas party took place that the old castle had ever seen.

Not only streamers of holly and mistletoe were hanging from the star-lit ceiling of the Great Hall, but ribbons and huge garlands of white and pink flowers, too. Abu, the monkey used the garlands as climbing ropes.

As the evening's guest stars, the Weird Sisters started to play the rap version of the bridal march, six people entered the room: three women dressed in white escorted by three men: Ginny Weasely led by Arthur, Hermione led by Sirius and Millicent Bulstrode led by (!) Professor Snape.

They stepped to three young men, standing in tuxedos before Dumbledore.

The headmaster opened his arms:

"My friends! I am so happy to see you all standing here with faces radiating joy and love! I have to tell you that this is the evening I've been waiting for sixty years – since the day I got the authorisation from the Ministry to marry couples. Up till now I haven't had the chance to live with this right, but today… Don't worry, I'm not about to have a long speech, because I'm aware how hungry everyone is… So, let's get down to it…" he flashed the crowd with a huge smile. "As you all know we are here to witness the moment as these six people enter the holy bind of matrimony…" he turned left, "Harry, Ronald, Dudley, do you want Virginia, Hermione and Millicent to be your wives, companies and aides throughout your lives?"

"Yes, I do." Harry replied, giving his bride a bright smile.

"Me too." Ron smiled at Hermione.

"Ditto." Dudley added, still too touched by the grace of life that let him be here now. Being a Muggle he had been forbidden by McGonagall to enter Hogwarts, but given the circumstances and Dumbledore's huge heart… he was here, getting married along with his ever-so-hated cousin, whom – however strange it may sound – he didn't hate anymore.

"Wonderful!" Dumbledore said. "And now… do you, Virginia, Hermione and Millicent freely bind yourselves to Harry, Ronald and Dudley to be their companies, partners and aides all the days of your lives?"

"I do." Ginny beamed, her green eyes shining brightly.

"I do, too." Hermione answered solemnly.

"You bet." Millicent smirked.

"Excellent! And now…" the headmaster waved his wand, conjuring six golden rings. "The rings are a symbol of your love, unbroken and shining… " he watched them put the rings on one another's fingers. "Now, that you have exchanged vows and rings, I pronounce you husbands and wives. You may kiss your brides."

Harry's lips descended on Ginny's, so did Ron's on Hermione's and Dudley's on Millicent's.

Molly Weasley sniffed, wiping her joyous tears. "Oh, Arthur… our little Ginny… and Ronniekins!"

"Harry Potter marrying Ginny Wheezy! Oh, what a happy day!" Dobby blew his nose and asked Abu for a dance.

"So touching…" Fleur sighed, holding Lily. "You know, Bill…"

"Yes, honey?" Bill sleeked his two inches long hair (he decided to grow it back to its original length after the unfortunate scalping at Stonehenge.)

"You know… 'aving Lily wiz us until the end of ze school year will be a good practise for me, because your muzzer will eventhually get zat ghandchild she talked abou' last Novembehr."

"What?" Bill's eyes widened. "Honey? You… you?"

"Yes, dear." Fleur kissed him on the cheek. "Lily will 'ave a little cousin."

While the three new couples were kissing, Neville let out a sigh. *I had dreamed about this…* he remembered his dream four years earlier – the dream, in which Ginny had snowflake-crystals glittering in her hair… in which her eyes had the colour green… in which she married Harry.

"Are you all right, dear?" a woman with young face but greyish hair asked, placing her hand on Neville's shoulder.

"Yeah, I'm fine." the boy smiled at her and at the man standing next to her. "Everything happened as it was meant to be."

When Harry finally let go of his wife's inviting lips, his glance met that of Snape.

The Potions teacher seemed to struggle with his facial muscles to remain indifferent, but to no avail – for the first time in his life, Harry saw a true smile appear on Snape's face.

A certain day, five months earlier, came to Harry's mind: the party after Ginny's resurrection. Almost six hundred people were celebrating in the garden of the Burrow when Neville suddenly went as white as a sheet - as though he had seen a ghost. Then he started to run in the direction of two people: a man and a woman. They were standing at the gate with outstretched arms, their eyes glinting in their faces that were framed by greyish hair. They were still young, Harry perceived.

Neville threw his arms around the two people's necks, sobbing and quivering. The woman started to stroke his hair, tears flowing down her cheeks. The man's face expressed utter happiness and pride.

*Could it be?* Harry thought.

It could.

Voldemort's death had a tremendous impact on the whole wizarding world – the evil was dead and the evil charms due to his tyranny lost their effects on the still living victims.

Neville got his parents back.

Not much later another form appeared at the gate of the Burrow – a man in black.

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Snape.

Harry gulped, gazing directly into the man's eyes. He knew that Snape came to _him_.

He put his goblet of butterbeer down and approached the Potions teacher.

It was already dusk, but he still could see the unaccustomed light in the man's black eyes. It was a light he had never seen before.

"Professor?" Harry started. "…what?"

"Let me speak, Potter." Snape waved his hand. "It was hard enough for me to come here, don't make it even more difficult."

Harry raised an eyebrow.

"I've come to say thanks to you." Snape stated.

"Thanks?" the boy gaped. He must be hallucinating.

"Yes." Severus nodded. "You saved my life when Black wanted to kill me. Thank you."

"You don't owe me thanks for it… it was you who helped me first by loosening my bounds at Stonehenge." Harry mumbled. "Um, Professor… would you care to join us in the celebration?"

"…no… thanks." said Snape and disapparated. 

Returning to the partying people, Harry mused whether he had only imagined that the professor was hesitating before turning his offer down. 

"Dear?" Ginny's voice shook him out of his reveries.

"Huh? Oh, sorry, sweetheart." Harry turned back to his new wife, diverting his attention from the past back into the present.

"Shall we dance?"

"Of course."

Several couples were already swaying on the dance floor, Ron and Hermione, and Dumbledore with Mrs. Figg among them.

While they were dancing, Colin Creevey kept making photos of them, and Peeves started bombarding the dancers with bowls of Christmas pudding.

"Peeves!" McGonagall shouted angrily as she wiped the pink, sticky goo from her hat.

"Take it easy, Minerva." Flitwick laughed and continued whirling her around.

As McGonagall gracefully jumped back to prevent Flitwick's stilts from accidentally tripping her, Peeves – also 'accidentally', dropped one of the three wedding cakes (with five tiers) on McGonagall's head.

"You are going to pay for this, Peeves!" Minerva pointed her wand at the other two cakes, making them whoosh through the ghost's viciously grinning face, landing in Dudley's lap (look, Milli, tarts!).

"Food fight!" Seamus yelled, grabbing a juicy watermelon, sending it into a group of Slytherins. Fred and George joined in with a bowl of orange juice (aimed at Malfoy).

Draco, who didn't have his two sidekicks guarding him around, returned the favour by sending some peppermint humbugs at the twins, who jumped away from the 'missile', so that it hit professor Dumbledore. The headmaster made a swish with his wand, and with a broad smile on his face, he rewarded the originator of the peppermint humbugs with a nice, smelly onion-sauce.

Soon chaos broke out.

Sirius got bombarded with broccoli, Dobby's new maroon jumper got soaked with butterbeer and Hermione's veil got littered with salad.

Harry needed to wipe ketchup from his glasses, while Snape was cleaning his hair that got some Dijon mustard on it. (This was the first time that anyone had seen him _clean _his hair!)

About ten minutes later professor Dumbledore performed an all-cleaning charm, making littered food and spilt drinks disappear – to most students' greatest regret.

When they got cleaned, Harry, Ginny, Hermione and Ron sat down to a table, panting.

Hermione adjusted her veil (that had no salad on it anymore), reaching for a glass of cool champagne.

"If only my parents could be here!" she sighed. "But no, they had to go to that stupid International Dentists' Congress to Tasmania! Oh, well, this is still the most beautiful day of my life." she asserted, giving her husband a lingering kiss.

"The most beautiful day of your life, is it? Because you married me," Ron grinned. "or because of the food fight?"

"That, too." she smirked.

"Is there anything else?" Ginny asked.

"Yup." Hermione nodded. "Last week was Rita Skeeter's trial. Her being an illegal animagus was revealed by an anonymous reader of the _Daily Prophet_. Her sentence was four months in Azkaban and she mustn't write any articles in the rest of her life."

"An anonymous reader?" Harry raised an eyebrow.

"Uh-huh." Hermione winked. Before Harry could ask her whether that anonymous reader had been Hermione, Dudley (with macaroni hanging from his cowlicks) and his wife (with chocolate-smeared face) sat down to them.

"How could I ever thank you for this, Harry?" Dudley asked.

"For what?" his cousin swallowed some champagne.

"For making me acquainted with Milli." Dudley beamed, and put an arm around his wife.

"It is not me whom you must thank." Harry pointed out. "She came to Privet Drive, after all."

"Yes." Millicent nodded. "At that time I didn't assume that the 'most mischievous guy' whom I'd marry was not you, Harry, but Dudley."

"How came that you fell in love with each other?" Ginny inquired.

"Well… we've been sending owls to each other since last Xmas." Millicent blushed.

"Oh, I remember! Dudley gave you a present!" Hermione commented.

"Exactly." Millicent nodded. "This crystal." she pointed at the pendant hanging from her necklace. "I was angry with him at first… you know, Snape taking 200 points from Slytherin… but then I realised that he loved me… we started to exchange mails, and… everything else came…"

"How did Aunt Petunia and Uncle Vernon react on your relationship?" Harry wanted to know.

"Well… I didn't dare tell them until October… unfortunately Aunt Marge was still 'visiting' us…" Dudley shrugged. "She was so surprised, that she had to sit down – right on Ripper. Poor dog… but he was old, after all… Dad started to howl that he'd disown me and I'd be deprived of succession… and Mom was so shocked that we feared that she might lose the baby."

"Baby?" Harry spat out the champagne. "Another Dursley child?"

"Yeah." Dudley nodded. "He is due any time now."

"You must be very happy about having a sibling, aren't you, Dudley?" Ginny asked.

"Sure." Dudley nodded and left the table with Millicent to look for more sweets.

"Oh, no, look…" Ron spoke up, "Malfoy…"

Draco stepped to their table.

"You won't spoil my good mood, Malfoy." Ron crossed his arms.

"Shut up, Weasel, I haven't come to talk to you."

"Then what do you want? Out with it and leave, 'cause you are tainting the air." Hermione asserted with a scowl.

"I want to have a word, Potter." Draco answered.

"Nothing can spoil my happiness now, not even you, Malfoy." Harry stood up. "C'mon, let's go outside."

"What the hell does that scum want from Harry?" Ginny frowned.

"No idea." Hermione shook her head. "Bad enough for Harry having to spend another year together with this filthy… if I were Dumbledore, I wouldn't have let Malfoy come back and finish his studies."

"Neither would I." Ron agreed. "It's his fault that Harry has to repeat the seventh year."

"It's not that bad…" Ginny grinned. "He's at the same class as me…"

"I bet you've been enjoying this school year so far." Ron chuckled.

Ginny turned red and giggled into her goblet.

"Are you two still _using_ the prefect's bathroom?" Ron asked.

"Nay." Ginny shook her head, blushing even more. "We don't want to 'entertain' Moaning Myrtle…"

"Where, then?" her brother pressed.

Now it was Hermione's turn to blush.

"You know something." Ron perceived. "Tell me!"

"You are too curious, dear." his wife pointed out.

"Ginny?" Ron turned to his sister, waiting for an explanation.

"The arithmancy classroom." Ginny admitted, avoiding Ron's stare.

Her brother looked shocked. "WHAT??? Hermione!!! You are letting them do it in _your_ classroom???"

"Ah, don't worry, Ron. It's safe from Peeves and with a nice _Quietus_ charm they can make themselves unnoticeable."

"Geez, I don't believe it… you were acting as their accomplice!"

Hermione chuckled. "Yeah, I was."

"I wonder what Draco could be telling Harry right now." Ginny said, just to talk about something less embarrassing, when Hagrid stepped to them.

"Hullo, guys, may I sit down?" he asked with a huge grin.

"Of course." they replied.

"Where's Harry?" the giant looked around.

"Somewhere with Malfoy." Hermione replied.

"Malfoy?" Hagrid grunted. "Can' believe! Yeh know, I think that Dumbledore made a mistake when letting that guy come back… but yeh know, I was almos' sorry fer him when his dad went mad."

"Me too." Ginny nodded. "But Lucius is all right again, isn't he?"

"Yup." Hagrid took a huge gulp of mulled mead. "Yeh know, I wanted ter tell Harry somethin'…" his eyes glinted with joy.

"What?" the other three asked.

"Olymp… she… she said yes!" the giant whispered with a dreamy face.

"Said yes? To what?" Ron gave him a questioning look.

"Ter me proposal!" Hagrid beamed.

"Proposal?" Hermione jumped up to hug him. "Congratulations, Hagrid! This is great!"

"Yes, wonderful, isn't it?" the giant smirked and downed another tankard of mulled mead.

"Great party, huh?" Headless Nick interjected, wearing a badge that indicated that its bearer was member of the Headless Hunt. "All those sweets… they make my mouth water… Pity that I cannot eat! Oh, well, never mind… Marie Antoinette! Wait for me, dear!" and he left, following a pretty headless ghost.

* * * * *

"What do you want to talk to me about?" Harry asked Draco in the corridor, wrinkling his nose. Malfoy still smelled of onion-sauce.

"Well…I… don't think that I'll ever like you, Potter…"

"Never thought you would." Harry shrugged.

"Let me finish." Draco said. "I'll never like you, but… I don't want to spend the next six months, and my whole life arguing with you. I'm tired of it."

Harry blinked. Draco must had gone crazy.

"Don't think that I'm crazy." Malfoy continued, wiping drops of orange juice from his forehead, "I'm just… um… wiser now."

"WISER?" Harry felt an urge to laugh. With orange juice dripping from his hair, Draco looked everything but wise.

"Yeah." the blonde boy nodded. "Father's madness taught me a lot… for example, that everything could go wrong anytime, and you can never be prepared enough…"

"You are planning to murder me this time to get rid of me?" Harry guessed.

Malfoy shook his head. "By saying that you never can be prepared enough I meant that you may get hurt or die anytime, and being hated by someone, or hating someone at that moment… is wrong. Terribly wrong."

"I agree." Harry nodded. "But I still don't get it. What are you driving at?"

Malfoy pursed his lips. "You aren't going to make this easy for me, are you?"

Harry grinned. "Turnabout is fair play. You never made my life easy, either. But… eventually it is you whom I have to thank my happiness."

"Me?" Draco frowned. "Explain!"

"You got Dudley give me that potion that made me lose my memories. I met Lockhart, went to Egypt with him and got to know about the Green Flame Torch that eventually saved Ginny's life. Thanks, Draco."

A smile appeared on Malfoy's sly face. "I didn't intend to make you happy… not at all."

"I never thought you did." Harry replied.

"Anyway," Malfoy carried on, "it's been too long that you and me have been grudging against each other. Time to end it."

"Bury the hatchet?"

Malfoy nodded. "Would you…?"

Harry stretched out his right hand. "'Course I would."

Draco tentatively reached out and shook his hand. "All right… but don't get complacent, Potter." he added with a malicious grin, as if fearing he looked weak for a second. "Slytherin will wipe Gryffindor off the Quidditch pitch next time."

"In your dreams, Malfoy."

* * * * *

"Who the hell invited this git?" Sirius turned to Lupin, pointing at Gilderoy Lockhart, who somehow had managed to avoid the food-bombs and was now surrounded by a dozen of groupies. He was telling them about 'his' unbelievable rescue of Abysmal sun-Amun's daughter, whose carpet happened to go berserk.

"Oh, Gilderoy, you are sooooo courageous!" Parvati sighed.

"And so clever!" Lavender added.

"And so engaged…" Lockhart finished.

"_Engaged???"_ the witches shrieked in terror.

"Yep. I'm gonna marry Anck sun-Amun! Isn't it wonderful?"

"Oh, my, that poor girl!" George whispered to Fred and Charlie who nodded eagerly.

"This git should be forbidden to enter Hogwarts." Percy remarked.

"Exactly, dear." Penelope nodded.

"Since when are Percy and Penny together again?" Ginny asked the twins as she approached with Hermione and Ron.

"Since he _managed to do it._" Fred chuckled.

"_Do it_?" Ron raised his eyebrows.

"Uh-huh." George chortled. "Now he is like a new man. You can't recognise him – imagine, he is _cheerful_!"

"You don't mean it!" Ron yelled.

"But I do!" George replied.

"What's up, guys?" Harry joined in.

"Come, I'll tell you… in private." Ginny grinned.

"Coming, honey." Harry said. "By the way, Ron, thanks for the Christmas present. I haven't had the chance to thank you yet. I loved it – very funny book."

"I'm glad that you liked it" Ron smiled. "Originally I bought it for you for the previous Xmas."

"Really?"

"Yeah, Brother-In-Law." his friend nodded. "Now go, the Arithmancy classroom is waiting for you."

Harry turned red. "You know it…?"

"Ginny told me." Ron winked.

Harry took Ginny by the hand to lead her up into the Arithmancy classroom, when the headmaster called them aside.

The newlyweds exchanged confused looks. They had no idea what Dumbledore could want from them.

"Well, Mr. and Mrs. Potter," Albus began with a smile, "I have good news for you."

"Good news, sir?" Harry asked.

"Yes." Dumbledore nodded. "Since this is an unaccustomed situation, you know, no students have ever got married here yet… so, I discussed it with the staff and they agreed… well, with the exception of Professor Snape, of course."

"Agreed? On what?" Ginny wondered.

"On giving you two a small room just to yourselves."

"What?" the newlyweds gaped.

"I know, I know, it sounds a bit like we deliberately allowed you two to do _some rule-breaking_, but… you are married, so there's nothing wrong about you two sharing a room, is there?"

Harry and Ginny's glance met, and a wicked grin spread on their faces. "NO! NOTHING AT ALL!" they shook their heads frantically.

"Good." Dumbledore nodded. "I was sure you wouldn't refuse. So… it is a disused room on the ground-floor, right under Professor McGonagall's room." he leaned closer to whisper: "If you would only try and make not too much noise… if you get what I mean…"

Harry stifled a laughter but Ginny couldn't help giggling.

"I got Mr. Filch to tidy that room up a bit… he quarrelled of course, saying that such allowances will plunge the school into immorality, but, between the three of us, who cares what that barmy old codger is saying?"

The newlyweds couldn't help but strongly agree.

"So, the room is cleaned, a double bed is installed, there's only one thing… you have to share that room with the old Hogwarts parchment book."

"Oh, that book!" Harry nodded. "No problem, sir. As long as it doesn't disturb us, we won't disturb it, either."

"Very well then, have fun, kids… um, just one more thing... I would never have expected that _the greatest scandal of Hogwarts history_ would end this well." Dumbledore winked at them and turned to the crowd with a magically magnified voice: "A moment, please! Before the new couples leave _somewhere_," he gave Harry a meaningful look, "an important part of the wedding ceremony has to be performed… the brides have to throw their bouquets!"

Loud murmur ran down the hall – laughter and excited squeals.

Ginny grinned at Hermione, who stepped to Dumbledore, followed by Millicent.

"An important rule is, "Albus carried on, "that no one may use magic now! Please, ladies, put your wands away and fight down the temptation to shout '_Accio bouquet'_!"

The Great Hall burst out laughing.

"Now, on the count of three…" Albus smiled. "One, two, three!"

The brides threw their bouquets, standing with their backs turned on the crowd.

Ginny's bouquet landed in Penelope's hand, making Percy turn ruby red. 

Hermione's fell into McGonagall's lap – the professor stared at the bouquet in shock, not even hearing the malicious chortling around her.

Millicent's bouquet swooped through the hall like an arrow, smashing against Fred's forehead. "What the…" Fred cursed, massaging his forehead, when he felt an arm go round his waist.

"I knew it… I just knew it, dearest." Angelina winked at him, while George patted his twin on the back compassionately.

"You poor, poor fellow…"

* * * * *

"Ah, Sybill! How nice to see you here!" Dumbledore greeted the Divination teacher as she entered the Great Hall.

"Oh, yes, Albus…" Trelawney gave him a mysterious look. "I was in my room, deep in my thoughts about death when I felt an urge to have a look at my crystal."

"And what did you see in it?" Dumbledore raised an eyebrow, expecting the most horrendous prediction ever.

"Oh, you won't believe it!" Sybill replied indignantly. "I saw… the future of the Potter-Weasley-Granger family…"

"And? What terrible accident is going to happen to them?" the headmaster looked amused. "Plane crash? Beheading? The Grim?"

"No, no, no." Trelawney said with an extremely suffering expression. "The crystal told me… that _they would happily live ever after_!"

"Oh, how terrible!" Albus clasped his hands.

Sybill's glance fell upon Ron and Hermione. "By the way, Albus, are the rumours true about the Weasleys' new situation?"

"Very much so." Dumbledore replied.

"I fear I don't know the whole story. Would you be so kind and tell me?"

"Oh, yes, of course." the headmaster smiled. "Centuries and centuries ago the Weasleys were a well-to-do family. During the goblin revolution of 1216… or 1612…?" he leaned closer to whisper: "Please, Sybill, don't mention to Professor Binns that I'm mixing up the years… so, Herold Weasley, - I guess that was his name - the head of the family, buried his treasures in his country estate to keep them safe from the rampaging, plundering goblins. Then Herold fled to Papua New-Guinea… or New Zealand? Never mind. So he fled from a vicious goblin called Harry the Harrier, if my memory serves me well. This goblin allegedly had sworn to kill him. Unfortunately Herold got lost in that far country. Presumably he had been eaten by a lethifold, ((A/N: for reference, see Fantastic Beasts and where to find them)) but it has never been proven." Albus shrugged. "Maybe he just ran off with the neighbour's pretty wife."

Sybill raised her eyebrows in disapproval, but the headmaster carried on. "Since no relatives of Herold knew where he'd hidden their money, they all began to search for it, but never found it. Soon they got into debt, sold their mansion and moved to their country estate, into the village of Ottery St. Catchpole. Since then, the Weasley family had been poor – until the previous summer, when Ron's niffler Wendelin found a huge crate of golden galleons in Molly's cabbage patch." Dumbledore reached out for a glass of pumpkin juice. "Yeah, that's the story of it, Sybill. While the Malfoys sank into poverty, the Weasleys became rich again. Ron got his share of the family heritage and opened a broomstick shop and repairing service in Hogsmead as you might have heard. He repairs all kinds of brooms with all kinds of problems… you know, from broken handles to tricky hurling hexes. In my humble opinion the Weasleys deserved their fortune. I for one, frequently visit Ron in his shop – just to take pleasure in all those beautiful brooms. My favourite is his _Rocket 3000_."

* * * * *

"So, what were the twins sniggering about?" Harry asked his wife as they left the Great Hall.

"Well… you remember what I told you about Percy? About his, um… _problem_?"

"Yeah… and?"

"Well, it's solved."

"Viagra?" Harry grinned.

"What?" Ginny raised an eyebrow.

"Ah, never mind." he smirked. "So, how was it solved?"

"Dunno… but he _managed_ it."

"That's good news." he took her by the hand, leading her down the corridor.

"Yes, and there's another good news in the family."

"What?"

"Fleur's expecting a baby."

"Oh, great. Bill must be very happy… hopefully it will be a girl… a little veela." Harry opened the door of their cosy little room. 

"Oh, how nice, isn't it, Harry?"

"Yeah. Filch made a good job." the boy peered into the room. There were beautiful deep blue curtains on the windows, forget-me-not blue tapestry on the walls (not purple anymore), and a huge bed stood in a corner. In the middle of the room, there was a small dais with the parchment book. Neither Harry nor Ginny bothered to examine it up close – their minds were on something else.

The new husband scooped his wife up and carried her over the curb.

"Welcome to our home sweet home, my dearest." he said, putting a '_Do not disturb'_ sign on the outside of the door.

Ginny gave him a brilliant smile. "I guess we'll be enjoying our time here, won't we?" 

"No doubt that we will." Harry replied. "By the way, where are Hermione and Ron going to spend their wedding-night? In Hermione's bedroom?"

"No." Ginny shook her head, unbuttoning Harry's tuxedo. "In Hogsmeade. You know, in Ron's apartment, above his shop.

"Uh-huh." Harry unfastened Ginny's belt as she started to plant small kisses on his forehead (scar included), nose, lips and neck, while fumbling with Harry's zipper.

He hastily rid her of her dress, playing with her copper tresses and whispering loving words into her ears.

"Don't you think that the guests will be looking for us?" Harry asked between two hot kisses, undoing the clasps of her bra.

"We'll be back before the party ends." she giggled. "Or not…"

"Who's taking care of Lily?"

"Mom and Fleur." Ginny replied, caressing his muscled chest, making him moan with desire.

"It's bad that… oh, dear… ooooh, deeeear… it's bad, that we always need to ask others to take care of our baby." Harry commented with laboured breath, dropping his trousers that he started to feel too tight in certain areas.

"We only have to wait until we end this school-year and move into Sirius' house." Ginny continued pleasuring him. "There we'll always have our daughter and son with us."

Harry blinked. "Our _son_? You've drunk too much champagne, haven't you, dear? We have only a _daughter_."

"Yet." she replied with a mischievous grin.

"What'd ya mean?" he looked confused.

"I mean that it seems to be a tradition by us…" Ginny placed her hands on her abdomen.

"A tradition?… What?" Harry swallowed the lump in this throat as understanding slowly dawned on him.

"_That we always forget to use protection_…" 

"Forget????" Harry breathed. "I thought we didn't forget it… did we?"

"We must have… at least once." she saw the half-frightened, half-enraptured expression on her husband's face. "Are you happy? At least a bit?"

"Happy??? No." Harry shook his head. Seeing tears brimming Ginny's eyes, he hastily added: "I'm not happy… I'M DELIGHTED!" With that he lifted her off the ground, whirling her around as though she weighed nothing more than a feather.

"Put me down!" she squealed, pummeling Harry's shoulder's with her fists, giggling. "Put me down you shaggy nitwit!" as he gently let her back onto the floor, she pulled his face down for a kiss. "You scared me, silly." she said, now tears of joy brimming her eyes.

"How could you think that I wouldn't be over-delighted to have another kid, huh?" Harry reached out to wipe her tears. "It'll provide a great opportunity for another scandal…"

"Another scandal?" Ginny furrowed her brow. "But Baby-Boy-Potter won't be born out of wedlock like Lily was…"

"No, he won't." Harry smirked. "But people CAN count, you know."

"Oh, yeah, maybe." Ginny chuckled, pulling Harry down with herself, onto the bed. "But you know what? I don't care for another scandal…"

"Neither do I." Harry grinned and bent down to kiss her again when they heard a strange, sizzling noise.

They looked around to see that the quill on the parchment book had set into motion.

"Let's have a look at it." Harry took Ginny by the hand and led her to the small dais.

They peered into The Hogwarts Parchment book and their eyes widened in surprise. 

"I don't believe it!" Harry breathed.

"Does it mean…?" Ginny asked.

"It has to." her young husband replied. "But it's… it's simply too good to be true…"

"It has to be true, though… the magic quill is always right!"

"Yeah…" the wickedest grin Ginny had ever seen, spread on Harry's face. "It has to be true… imagine their faces when they receive the letter in green ink…" he barely could hold back his laughter. "This is… this is the greatest disaster that could happen to them…"

"I almost feel sorry for them." Ginny commented with a malignant smirk.

"_Almost_." Harry winked at his wife, putting his arm around her. She bent her head on his shoulder, and both of them stared incredulously at the single line that the quill had written:

__

David Dursley, born 25th December 1998, parents: Vernon and Petunia Dursley

****

THE END

****

A/N2: okay, that was it. I hope you enjoyed reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it.

Whether Sybill's statement "_…they would happily live ever after_!" will be true or not, you'll find out from the sequel, coming in a couple of months :-)

Thank you once more for reading (and reviewing), bye!


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